Bonding Time

Last week my brother and his wife celebrated their 10 year anniversary and decided to go on a trip overseas to celebrate, and left their kiddos behind. They have 3 kids plus one in utero, so they totally deserved a kid-free vacation. We offered to watch their 2 boys, ages 6 & 4 for 5 days and 4 nights while they were gone.

Overall, it went really well. Our kids LOVED having their cousins here 24 hours a day. The boys crashed on the floor in our son's room at night, which was a lot of fun for them all. My son loved having buddies to play with during the day (I liked it too, since he was so preoccupied with them, I actually got more work done around the house & even caught a couple of naps!). It was an interesting experiment to "try out" being a family of 6...I even got to drive the mini-van! Even though the experiment went well, I'm not sure my husband and I are ready for 2 extra kids for the long-term (although my husband was really cute playing with all the boys!).

We appreciated this time to get to know our nephews better. They are both really sweet boys, and are sensitive in many ways. They totally doted on our daughter, which I thought was so cute. They easily adjusted to the rules & expectations in our home, and brought a lot of laughter & fun. We sadly gave them back to their parents at the airport, and as we rode home as a family of 4 again, I turned around in the backseat to see my son fighting to hold back his tears. I told him it was okay to feel sad and to miss his cousins. Then the floodgates opened, & he started sobbing. He said, "It's different without them." Yes, it is. Good thing that they live in the same town we do and we can visit them anytime we want!

Here are a few photos of our time together. I think the boys would say that the highlights were: playing Legos together, drawing on the dry-erase board, going bowling for the first time, eating at Chick-Fil-A, movie night at home w/snacks and making pudding in a ziploc bag which they got to throw around.

Studying the lane, setting up the shot

A natural!

Dance party with "Rock Monster" (from Veggie Tales)

Throwing the pudding around

We love all of you "stinky faces"!