76 months

It's amazing how these kids can go many months without seeing each other and pick up right where they left off. We had seen the cousins last at Thanksgiving and while six VERY LONG months had passed it didn't seem like it had been that long. They even all had the same bathing suit so they were destined to spend some time together this summer! Of course the first thing K wanted to do when she got here was go swimming, and of course that meant fighting over the floats, a new  float quickly got added to my Walmart list, then they fought over who got the new one! 

 

We spent lots of time biking and looking for animals on our rides, swimming, we definitely have some fish in the family, playing games, doing puzzles and BBQing. C loved having someone to play makeup and hair with, and I found her and K playing the most together while J was busy doing other things, mainly puzzles! K can't come visit without a visit to G&G's for a BBQ and sleepover, but there was no Walmart and Menchies outing as they usually get to do, thanks COVID! We had one lonely monarch caterpillar on our milkweed that was growing back so we were able to bring it on the patio to cocoon and watch another one hatch, the girls were excited that K got to see a butterfly hatch and then release it, it really is so cool in person when you get to see it so up close and personal.We had ice cream dates in the car and the girls rode along to get out of the house on any errands we had to run, we were to Walmart a few times a week for food, when you are home all the time you eat a lot!

Nana took the girls for a couple of days down to Miami to see the littlest cousins and for a change of scenery. They got to spend some good quality time just hanging out since there was no where to go or anyone else to see! C has usually been the odd one out when we are with them as B&J are like glue but this time she had her own "mini", who calls her Care Bear, to follow her around and play with, she wasn't left out. And while A just turned two, she definitely wants to be one of the big kids! They spent lots of time outside in the bounce house, on the porch and swimming, of course they had to eat their ice pops and have snacks poolside, thank goodness Uncle Mikey has an automatic vacuum cleaner! Aunt Boo had all sorts of fun things to play with, they played with sensory bins, broke apart ice and rocks to see what they could find, painted boxes, dressed up as Ninja Turtles and even made a cake!Aunt Boo wanted to keep Care Bear as she was such a good help at entertaining A, maybe another time.

They got to go out on the board twice, once to go fishing and the other time to just go for a ride and hang out at the sandbar and swim. C became a boat "expert" by the second trip and loved riding up front in the boat with her ponytail blowing in the wind. With a little help she caught her first fish, a grunt, and got to hear it grunt before they released it. I'm sure Pop Pop was looking down this day proud at all of the kiddos and their love for the boat and water! She enjoyed floating at the sand bar but most of all I think she enjoyed the boat snacks and eating chips and chicken nuggets like they were going out of style! She couldn't wait to tell me all about it when she got home and is already asking when we can go back to the house of fun!

What was supposed to be a week turned into three weeks of K here with us. Surprisingly in three weeks there weren't many fights, I was ready for there to be a daily fight as they were an odd number. They were all sad when it was time for her to go home, I think she would have stayed all summer if she could have. Being stuck in the house with the same people day after day they needed their own time and when two of them would go and play together the other would have "their time", in the past this would have caused a fight but not this time, hey even mom needed her time! On one of my many trips to Walmart I scored some little toys on the clearance rack, I had no clue I was opening up a can of worms with the Tic Tac Toys I had gotten! When I pulled these from my stash one rainy afternoon they squealed like they had won the lottery, after seeing their excitement and the thrill they got from opening them, we all go into them. So much that we spent the rest of the week hitting up the Walmart clearances for more, we were addicted to them and the suspense of not knowing what we were getting. We spent a small fortune on these to try and get the "rare" ones, we were especially looking for the unicorn, which we never got! K's last request before heading back home were the infamous donuts, which we drove all the way out west to get, a swim, which we did in the morning because it rained in the afternoon and Wolveshead for dinner. It was a great three weeks with her, the girls are sure gonna miss each other after this "sisterly" bonding time.

While Nana was with the kids in Miami mommy and daddy decided it was a good idea to buy a new house, not sure what we were thinking! We are building new again so there isn't much to see other than a plot of land for right now, we did get to take the kids to see the model, besides the dentist this is the only public place they have been and had to wear their mask. We made a couple of changes to the model and tried to explain it to them, not sure they get it but this time around they understand that their bedroom will not be decorated like the model and that they are looking at the room and not the stuff. J is excited to have her own bathroom with a shower that will be off of the patio. We are hopefully going to be in by Christmas, let's see if that really happens. We celebrated Father's Day with but what else a BBQ and an afternoon of swimming. Daddy and Grandpa wanted steak so mommy went and bought them a Fred Flintstone size piece of meat, it was a nice day and at 5pm we sent a toast up to Pop Pop. 

Someone had to see the dentist to get her cavity filled, she was excited to show him that her tooth that was just barely wiggly when she saw him the month prior was a lot more wiggly now! This time we skipped the laughing gas and she handled it like a champ without tears or a meltdown, for being so good mommy took her for ice cream after, not sure rewarding her with something sweet was a good idea, oh well! Mommy had to quickly sew her a tooth fairy pillow so she had something for when she lost her first tooth, she chose for me to use some ocean fabric that I had in my bin from another project. Daddy spent what felt like eternity trying to yank the tooth out, he spent all of Father's Day trying and finally a couple of days later was able to get it out, it was a stubborn tooth that didn't want to come out! Miss C was very excited to lose her first tooth and couldn't wait to see what the tooth fairy brought her the next morning, a $2 bill that she immediately put into her piggy bank.

We went down to Miami, this time mommy got in on the fun, for a few days before Nana headed back to Georgia. Was a nice change of scenery and to get our of our house! Being at home for the last three months in quarantine with no where to go was getting boring, a new house and new people made the days not feel as redundant. Within an hour of arriving Uncle Mikey was ready to go out on the boat and by 4pm we were eating chips and catching fish! C and A were more interested in playing with the live shrimp than fishing, eventually C wanted to fish so when I got one hooked she got to real it in. We stayed out past sunset, caught lots of fish and some to bring home to cook, I don't think the kids hit their pillows until almost 11pm that night, and of course they were up by 7:30am! C came down with an ear infection a day or two in and had to spend the rest of the trip with her head above the water, she was a little upset she couldn't dive with the kids but made the best of it, or just didn't go in the pool and found something else to do. Mommy and Aunt Boo tie dyed the kids shirts, they were supposed to help but when we saw what the dye was doing to our hands we decided to keep them away from it other wise we'd have colorful kids! They got to pick their colors and what went where, when they saw them finished they loved them and couldn't wait to put them on. We couldn't leave Miami without a second trip on the boat, this time the fish weren't biting so we hung out at the sandbar instead, right up C's alley, floating in the pirate ship and eating snacks with A!

While we were in Miami the girls finally got to meet cousin J! Corona virus kept them from meeting her earlier this year and we were fortunate everyone was healthy enough to have a short visit with her. She hasn't had much interaction with other kids and was so excited when she saw the girls and so happy to spend the afternoon playing with them. I love watching them with babies as they get older, kinda makes me want another one but then I quickly snap out of it as we have our freedom to do what we want!

Here are the pictures from the month.