Are we having fun yet?: Miss I

I talked a good friend of mine into coming out to visit me this summer. She has five kids between 10 and 2 years old. Her hubby couldn't take off more time. Mine was gone. She lives 12 hours away straight driving. It really takes about 15 hours minimum if you push yourself. About 2 hours into her drive she almost turned around.

BUT!!! She made it. It was a once in a life time event. Something I am certain I'll never be able to talk her into doing again. Or me. We realized that a third adult is key with this group. We were whooped. But we had so much fun!! Here is what I (and the kids) remember about their family's visit.

Basic outline of activities: blueberry picking, night at the beach/park, ferry ride and beach, air show, camping experience day, church (afternoon of course. Ha!), flight museum, trolley ride, ice cream snack.

Here is what I remember. Bedtime showering and routines were exhausting. We couldn't help each other and had to figure out how to get 8 filthy kids clean on a rotation. I was ready to collapse each night. Cooking for 10 people is a new logistics problem for me. I never got it down and understand better why moms of lots of kids get tired. I felt like lots of energy was in food prep and cooking. That would quickly go out the window if I did it the way I did it long term.

But then, once the kids were in bed and we could hear ourselves talk, we stayed up late anyway. That was the best part of the whole visit for me.

My kids called her kids their cousins. They aren't biologically, but hey! It was that fun

W loved getting her nails painted with the girl cousins. She also loved playing all day with the girl cousins. They played ponies, in the tree and made/decorated their own outside fort.

T loved playing with her second oldest. A bit of a surprise to me. I thought he would like playing with the boy his same age. Not so. I guess he likes the other boy because of his love of fun and all his ideas. They played outside on their bikes and scooters a bunch and a ton with the Legos.

T also caught Miss I by surprise and tickled her feet once. She laughed pretty hard and he was happy he made her laugh.

T was an amazing host. I didn't realize what skill he has in that area. He shared all of his toys all the time. I think he did miss playing with his sister a bit since she wouldn't let him play with her too much, but it worked out.

E seemed happy to just be with so many people. My cutest memory of him was greeting everyone one by one coming up the stairs for breakfast by name. He eventually got to playing with the youngest, the one his age. They took turns picking the toy to play with. She played ponies with him first. Then he suggested trucks.

I don't have pics but the hike back to the car with the 6 kids that were 7 and under was super cute. T and W made gates for the kids to run through. The toddlers loved that game and hiked back without complaints. Thank heavens for T and W. Very enjoyable memory.

I also don't have pics of the trolley ride and frozen yogurt after trip. Miss I was a totally auntie and treated them. T spent lots of time coloring in his picture so very carefully of the exact colors of the trolley on the paper they gave him. He loved it.

I called and asked everyone what they remembered about the trip.

The youngest didn't want to talk to me on the phone. No comment I guess. Probably upset about losing her sandels. She hid them somewhere. I still haven't found them.

The next youngest is five. He remembers playing. He told me on the phone he didn't want to go home, but that he had to. He played legos the entire time he was here. Mostly driving the Lego train too fast and wrecking it, but other legos too.

The middle one remembers riding the ferry.

The second oldest remembers sleeping downstairs. He had never done that, he said. While he was here, he woke up scared. It was pitch black in the area he was sleeping in, so that probably had something to do with it.

The oldest remembers the air show, riding scooters down our hill with his new friends and playing in the driftwood fort on the beach.

Miss I enjoyed the hike.

Very interesting. We were all together for those days, yet everyone remembers something different. They all happened, but it sounds like a completely different time based on who you talk to.

There are only a few pics from my phone and camera. The rest they have.