Cousin's Trip #2 - 3 Days of Fun

Collin had so much fun with his cousins Ben, Will and Hollis last year that we decided we needed to make an annual trip to see them.  We were a little later this year than I intended but we did finally make it to see them this year.  Grandma H went with us this time.  Collin did not sleep the entire 4 hour car ride there and did really good.  He was busy watching his movies to ask too many questions like "Are we there yet?".   We stopped for lunch before continuing to the cousin's house.  When we arrived, the boys greeted us with Nerf guns.  This was a very familiar scene because this is how they greeted us a year and a half ago but with different kind of guns.  Collin quickly joined in and they played like this for at least the first two hours.  I even played on Will's team a few times and actually had fun too.  You can work up a sweat playing with Nerf guns.  Hollis was feeling left out so I stopped to play with her a little while.

They stopped only long enough to eat dinner and then it was time to relax.  Dinner was baked potatoes and salad.  I loved it but knew that Collin would turn his nose up to both.  He did try a bite of the potato and some of the salad but then sat there the rest of the time until we finished eating. 

The next morning, Collin woke up and immediately grabbed a Nerf gun and was ready to play "shooter guns" with his cousins.  But...they were not awake yet.  He would have to wait another 30 minutes.  Later that morning, we all, except Grandma H, loaded up to head to a nearby water park for a few hours.  The kid's pool was a VERY large 2ft 6in deep pool that Hollis and Collin could stand up comfortably in so the Mommies sat at the edge and watched them play.  When they got tired of this, we moved to the slides and lazy river.  Collin was not timid about going down the slides at all.  I was impressed. 

Here he is going down the taller slide several times with Hollis.  He stopped a few times to have the large bucket of water spill over him before quickly climbing back up the stairs to go back down again.

There he is waiting his turn to go down the slide

Even though he bumped his head, he said he was ready to go again

Getting splashed before getting in line again

The kids took a snow cone break.  Collin has not had one of these in 2+ years but was one of the cleanest eaters.  He was smart and asked for a straw to sip the syrup out of his cone.  He saw Ben doing this.  He ate most of it before he was ready to get back in the pool.  They swam a little longer before we had to go.

Collin and Will making friends with another boy

Hollis and Collin playing with the ball

We had to leave the water park because Collin and I needed to get cleaned up quickly before heading North to see a long time friend of mine and her family.  She has an older little girl and a 4-year old boy, Will.  Collin said, "another Will like my cousin Will".  The boys had a blast together even though there is a year age difference.  After eating a yummy dinner, the boys played outside on the swings and slide before driving around in Will's new 4-wheel car.  Collin was a passenger at first and then Will asked if he wanted to drive.  I did not think Collin would but he surprised me by not only driving around but doing it for at least 20 minutes before the battery started to die.  He drove it outside the fence and to the garage so the battery could be charged. 

Doesn't he look like he rules this backyard?

The boys then played on other scooters, bikes and bulldozer toys before Will needed to go inside and take a bath.  Collin was not ready to leave so he was invited to take a bath too.  That helped me for when we got back to the cousin's house so I was fine with it.  The boys got along great in the tub taking turns playing with a boat and a Hot Wheel car ramp stuck to the bathtub wall.  When we were getting ready to leave, Will asked to see our car.  Too cute!  He and his parents walked out with us to check out our car before we left. 

I was shocked that Collin did not nap on the way back to the cousin's house but I knew he was tired.  We arrived just before 9pm and knew he needed to go to bed soon before he because a big cranky butt.  It did not take long to see this cranky butt displayed so I took him to bed right away.  He fought to fall asleep but did sleep hard that night and did not get up until close to 8am. 

In the morning, we went to a local splash pad for the kids to get outside and stop playing shooter guns.  The Mommies and Grandma H were ready to not step on "bullets" and hear the shooting.  Even though there was water, the kids enjoyed sliding, climbing and running around in the other area of the splash pad away from the water.  Collin was really proud of himself climbing up a structured and told me to get the camera to take his picture.  Here he is with Ben at the top.  He climbed all he way up and then back down by himself. 

We headed back to pick up Grandma H and meet Rob, the kid's Dad, for lunch at Braum's.  We were all craving it last night after I mentioned that I was craving an ice cream on the way back from my friend's house but could not find a Dairy Queen or a Sonic on the way home.  What a treat Braum's was.  Collin ate fantastic and wanted an ice cream cone like the other kids.  I assumed I would get to finish what he could not but he ended up eating the entire cone.  What a little piglet!  Guess playing with cousins and driving a little car last night made him hungry.

Heading back to the house, they all knew that it was time for us to head back home.  Hollis announced that she wanted to come to our house to swim.  She did not understand that we lived hours away.  Her Mommy and I talked about when they could come down for a visit with us.  The kids all home it;s sometime soon.  What a great trip.  

Being silly on the ride back.  Collin looks like he is sad because he knows he has to head home soon.

Hollis did not want to be left out of the craziness in the car.