Once upon a time Sam and Quinn and I had a genius idea called Cousin Reunion - basically just a family reunion but focused on the getting the kids together and adults are an afterthought haha.
We planned and texted and planned and then it was finally time to drive to the random VRBO cabin house place in the middle of nowhere Utah:
On our way texts! (I really thought Quinn's family sent one too... must have erased it, whoops?)
Luckily Quinn's family got there first so the man hiimself was front and center to welcome us:
We made quick friends with the local wildlife, aka cows and bugs.
I apparently did some sort of cheesy welcome speech? That tracks.
Cutest Bailey eating I guess all of the watermelon?
I brought all of my stickers and 85% of my markers and the kids got to work making a bag for each member of the family so that we could spend the next few days writing and delivering nice notes:
Helpful that the note writing station was right next to the ping pong table!
Wraparound porch with dessert and beautiful views? Don't mind if I do.
My babies!! Aka not my babies at all but I love them.
Grandma Pam was available for the timeframe of Cousin Reunion, so she and Albie came as well!
Bags getting finished and hung up! Chuck wisely commissioned Remi to make a bag for him and it turned out sooooo cute:
HIJ bags. Jack's makes me laugh.
I thiiiiiink these were kid-created as well ;).
Bailey went Harry Potter themed with a bit o' soccer mixed in.
Leila and Jett - both heavy on the Star Wars.
Carma and Miko...
and ending with Remi, Sammy, Quinn, and Eden!
Oh ya I made my own, of course orange.
It was so fun to see the cousins sneak into the garage throughout the week to write cute notes and then deliver them to the bags!
With some ping pong breaks of course.
Highly recommend a cousin reunion during the Olympics - always something cool to watch on TV!
Sam brought his Occulus which led to hilarity and laughing.
Cheers to the three of us for finding cool people to marry (legit we all married up) and then having 13 super cool kids.
Studio C videos in the mornings.
Chuck on the Occulus? Best thing ever.
Pool table upstairs! Well, up some stairs... this house had multiple half levels and random stairs here and there which was super fun.
Will looks like a pool shark fo sho.
Okay, I may have had too much fun deciding to get all of the kiddos color coded shirts for each of the age groups.
With some ping pong breaks of course.
Sam brought his Occulus which led to hilarity and laughing.
Studio C videos in the mornings.
Chuck on the Occulus? Best thing ever.
Pool table upstairs! Well, up some stairs... this house had multiple half levels and random stairs here and there which was super fun.
Okay, I may have had too much fun deciding to get all of the kiddos color coded shirts for each of the age groups.
The three oldest cousins, aka Clyde, Will, and Bailey, got green:
As always, props to Bailey for holding her own with these two big boys!
As always, props to Bailey for holding her own with these two big boys!
The next oldest group - Hazel, Jack, and Isaac! We put HIJ in blue:
The J girls! Miko, Leila, and Carma
When I tell you I probably have a hundred pictures of HIJ and in every one Hazel has the best, most patient smile and Isaac and Jack are almost always doing something goofy. SIGH.
aka
Emiko Jane, Leila Jade, and Carma June
aka the only all girl group so we went with pink:
And finally, the wee ones!! Remi and the little boys! The Squishmallows aka Remi, Jett, Sammy, and Zeke:
Super easy to photograph, why do you ask? ;)
A few pictures of the whole cousin crew:
Run Quinner, run!
Then it was back to hanging out!
No idea what this pow-wow was about. Probably don't want to know.
Jett and Uncle Chuck and their shared love of Star Wars mini figures.
Board games for the kids, card games for the adults - also I love Clyde on his phone (again) in the background haha.
More Studio C time in the mornings before all of the adults were up and moving.
Photo Scavenger Hunt time - split the kids into groups and handed them a phone and this list:
Team 1 was Clyde, Hazel, Carma, and Jett.
Team 3 was Will, Isaac, Miko, and Remi.
Eden (and Quinn) and Terri (and Sam) and Chuck (and me) took turns doing meals, which was perfect.
Will took a turn with the Occulus.
Kids in bed? Time for hardcore Daddy's Revenge aka group solitaire.
Chuck's morning to make breakfast = quiche. Yummmmmmmmm.
Last minute notes as we were packing up the house and cars and such.
Time to open their bags and read the notes!
So, so sweet.
Group pictures - the cousins and their parental units.
Just the cousins!
Classic with the oldest and youngest:
Hugs goodbye, I'm not crying, oh wait.
Aaaaand on the road home! Mando did amazing for the whole trip which was fantastic. Yay cousin reunion!
Team 1 was Clyde, Hazel, Carma, and Jett.
Team 2 was Bailey, Jack, Leila, and Sammy.
Full disclosure: Will and Isaac had some creative differences and each bounced from the activity in favor of some quiet reading time. Miko and Remi rallied and continued on strong!
Zeke joined in for some and LOVED it.
I made mini movies of all of the pictures and we sat around and watched them and admired the creativity and fun the kiddos had. Super cute.
Back to hanging out:
Eden (and Quinn) and Terri (and Sam) and Chuck (and me) took turns doing meals, which was perfect.
Will took a turn with the Occulus.
Kids in bed? Time for hardcore Daddy's Revenge aka group solitaire.
Chuck's morning to make breakfast = quiche. Yummmmmmmmm.
Last minute notes as we were packing up the house and cars and such.
75% sibling photoshoot. Sam would want me to clarify that the ground was sloped here in Quinn's favor.
Time to open their bags and read the notes!
Classic with the oldest and youngest:
Hugs goodbye, I'm not crying, oh wait.
Aaaaand on the road home! Mando did amazing for the whole trip which was fantastic. Yay cousin reunion!
