More Summer Magic

This is Cowen playing fetch with his favorite dog--Indie. Indie has more energy than Cowen. Amazing. They get along famously.

This picture was taken in July when Aunt Kami was staying at our house. Lindsay Ann came out to visit and we put all the children outside and gave them water. They decided to compete--who could stay in the cold water the longest. Hilarious.

It's amazing what a hot summer day, cold hose water, and a few buckets can produce by way of babysitting. That's Hailey with her head in the water.

Ana and Miriam.

Fun in the sun often leads to complete and total exhaustion.

Another day playing with the hose. I glanced out the window and both my girls were starkers. I yelled out to them to put their clothes on (Ethel!!) and they complied. When I checked on them again I realized they were washing clothes in the bucket then hanging them up to dry. Clever little darlings.

Before the reunion I told all the cousins that anyone who read all five books in my favorite children's fantasy series (The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander) would win a Jake's Over the Top milkshake. This is Danica reading it. I was so excited I had to take a picture. Hardly anyone reads Alexander anymore. It's a crying shame, I tell you. I ended up taking Ana, Olivia, and Danica for milkshakes. Myles tagged along because his mom gave me money to get him a milkshake because he finished the Harry Potter series. Harry shmarry. Taran--he's a real hero.

Myles playing with Cowen and Anders. Myles is at that age where he thinks it is fun to pick up the sprinkler and mess around with it and never let anyone actually run through it. Grr. On the bright side--Cowen adores him because he's rough and tumbly, just like my boy.

I watched Megan's kids one day and they spent the entire day gathering snails and starting a snail farm. They even had a breeding program outlined to make sure they had enough snails to meet customer demand. I'm not making any of this up--that's what they told me.

I grow weeds and snails in my backyard. At least the snails amuse the children. The weeds have no use whatsoever.