COUSIN CAMP #2

 

 

GIRLS

 

 

We had the girls Cousin camp this past weekend.

      I loved it.......that may be because I am a GIRL! granted....a old one but we                                     still love the same things.

 

I picked up Emma and Abby Thursday afternoon and

we headed to Oak Mountain to spend the night with Lily.

 

I wish I could have captured the look on Lily's face when she saw Emma and Abby
walk through the door. This little girl loves her cousins. She was so excited that she was just silly.
She sat down on the fireplace hearth and patted and told Emma and Abby....'mon.

It was already past Lily's bedtime when we got there. After running around the house chasing each
other for about 30 minutes....Lily went down without a peep.

After Lily was asleep...I loaded up  the girls and we went to Brewster's and got
some ice cream.
Our late night Cousin Camp treat! Shh.....don't tell Lily!

ZOO

Friday morning we did the Lily part of Cousin Camp....the Zoo.
Really, everybody in our family loves the Zoo.
Sorry for all the pics but they were just too cute not to post.

 



 

Lily was a little scared of the birds but Emma and Abby loved feeding them. we had to go back and buy
more food

 

 

 

Riding the train

 

Emma and Abby loved the DINO adventure but Lily wasn't too sure about it!

the girls loved the butterflies.....I just had to watch Lily and
keep her from stomping on them!

 

PEDI

 

After the Zoo we went to a nail shop and got the girls

a pedicure for back to school

 

 

We headed to Ross Bridge to check in and cool off.

the girls wanted to eat Mexican so we met Courtney at

Cocina Superior

at Brookwood Village.

After supper

Courtney took Lily home. She was so sad.....she kept motioning to

Emma and Abby saying.....'mon

I think Emma and Abby were sad she left, also. I told them

maybe she would be old enough to stay with us next year!

But........

they didn't seem to miss her as much after they got

to go night swimming at the Ross Bridge pool. I love

watching my girls have a good time. The pool wasn't crowded

and was all kids. They quickly made friends on the pool slide and swam

for about an hour and a half.

 

 

 The girls and I headed up to the room, got showers and

laid in bed and watched tv. Abby and I decided we were thirsty......

this was when I really missed John......he always takes care of me. We were already in our PJ's

and when we walked to the machines , right down the hall, it wouldn't take our dollars.

So, we got ice and had water!!!

Later, during the night when my Mexican dinner woke me up I

was really missing John. He would have gotten me an alka seltzer!

 

MORNING

We ordered room service as our last

Cousin Camp fun thing

 

 

 

Ummmm......this was sooo good....Shrimp and grits with asparagus and tomato gravy

 

After breakfast we got dressed checked out and headed home.

and guess what

haven't had this happen in years

a lesson in humility

sitting on the side of the road watching everybody drive by

I RAN OUT OF GAS

Luckily

we were just a few miles from home

Brady came and rescued us!

 

I declare Cousin Camp a success

Already thinking of things to do next year

 

If you have suggestions I would love to hear them!

 

 

 

COUSIN CAMP

 

BOYS

 

So, I started something this year that I hope will be a tradition for at least a few years.

The birth of Lily made this possible.....the girls needed a cousin.

 

We had the boys for "Cousin Camp" 2 weeks ago.

I have to have John's help to do the boys. Don't think they

would be too impressed with what MeMe would have planned.

We picked Pops up after work, ate a quick lunch and headed to

NATURAL BRIDGE

The boys love anything that has to do with walking, running and exploring

so

this was perfect

I had not been to Natural Bridge in.....oh, I would say......30 years!

I wasn't sure what to expect.

It truly is a Mom and Pop place.

The woman working there told us that it is privately owned, they

receive no government help and the owners are in their late 80's and live in a house that  

you can see at the end of the parking lot.

Pretty cool!

This is a beautiful little spot and I recommend it for a quick little Alabama trip

for young kids

 

the entrance and souvenir shop

The bridge

look closely in these pictures and you will see Lawson and JB3

As the boys had fun walking/running around....John and I sat and discussed what may have caused all these formations
and that it was just tucked away in a small town in Alabama

God's beautiful creation

The boys love to make up stories about the places they are exploring.
As we walked past these rocks Lawson declared that the white marks in the rocks were
"Indian drawings" and that was it.......they were off on a little boy adventure!

YEP, Pops let little boys do things that a MeMe is scared for them to do!
The reason a boy needs good men in their lives!

Having a little drink to cool off before we did it all over.....again!

 

I told the boys that I would buy them a souvenir. They
touched everything in the store. They were leaning toward a very small cedar box.
The box was $17.50.....wasn't planning on spending that much but it was something that would last a life time
and then.......they happened to turn around and saw a flute made out of bamboo....$2.50....I
was thrilled.
By the time Cousin Camp was over John informed me that he would have gladly paid
for two $17.50 boxes!
Oh. well, they loved those flutes!!!

It is funny that something a little different can make something so usual
be special.
trying out the artisan water
again and again and again

 

DRIVE-IN MOVIE

 

After we toured Natural Bridge we headed back to Berry.

The boys swam for a while and then rested with a little computer time.

We loaded up the car with a ice chest of drinks, paper towels,

blankets and chairs and headed to the

drive-in.

We saw Turbo at the

Blue Moon Drive In

We stopped at McDonald's and got supper

When we got to the drive in we put 4 chairs in front of the car

and ate supper while we waited on the movie.

You tune your radio to the given channel and the sound

from the movie comes out your radio.

The boys loved it and we did , too!

 

We came home after the movie and the boys went to bed.

The next day we met Pops at the camp house and rode 4 wheelers

IN THE MUD

with all the rain the Sipsey River was OUT!

looked for arrowheads, fished, ate and

learned to shoot a bow!

GUY STUFF

but

MeMe can hang with these boys

 

 

Next up

Girls Cousin Camp