Kirkland Cousins

While we are all patiently awaiting little Gracie's arrival- the other six cousins took this week to do as much as they could together!  All seven range in age from 11-3 years old.  Michael 11, Claire, 9, Morganday 8, Kyle 5, Tiernan 5, Matthew 5, and Emily 3.  And yes, you read that right.  Three five year old boys.  We have been busy!

Jill owed Emily a shopping spree to Toys R Us and Emily was not going to let Jill forget it!  Never mind that Jill is nine months pregnant, Emily wanted what was promised to her!  All the kids loved the trip there.  Auntie Sugar (Jill) managed to get them all a candy and Emily got her birthday gift! 

After toy shopping, we headed over to the mall because doesn't shopping with a nine month pregnant woman and six children sound fun?  We bribed the kids with McDonalds so luckily- it wasn't too bad.

The following day, the cousins met at an awesome pool up in Lynnwood near Jill and Jake's house.  It had an indoor water play structure and also had waterslides.  Funny, the website neglected to let us know that the slides didn't open until 1 p.m.  We showed up at 10:00 a.m.  The older kids were not amused but soon forgot about their disappointment.  Maybe they distracted by the elderly water aerobics class that was in the pool next to us being led by th00e most amazing, long legged, energetic, young man I have ever seen.  He was above water and doing the movements he wanted to older ladies to do under the water. Jill and Jake can attest to the mind boggling entertainment!

The six cousins also managed to go and visit Nana!  She loved seeing all of their smiling faces!  My favorite part was when all seven of them sang her You are my Sunshine.  Nana loved seeing Jill and her pregnant belly, too!  It even brought Nana to tears.  We love you, Nana!

I was able to take my kids to go and see my Grandma, too!  She loved the visit.  A long time ago, we brought flowers and cookies over to my Grandma's house when we went and saw her.  Now- the kids basically insist that we stop at Metropolitan Market to get her the same treats!  I know my Grandma loves it, though so I go along with it becuase it makes the kids so happy to bring her treats!  My Grandma is so amazing.  She always has treats of her own waiting for the kids!

On our last day, we went down to one of the beaches in Kirkland and fed the ducks.  I swear, if there is one thing that Emily makes sure we do each trip, it's feed the ducks.  She talks about it all the time.  One time, my Mom made candied popcorn that had some pink sugar on it.  We brought it to the lake and fed it to the ducks (I sure hope they can digest pink sugar).  Since then- she has been obsessed with feeding ducks pink popcorn.  Obsessed.  The older kids could care less if we feed the ducks- they just want to play on the toys!  We did sneak in a quick trip to Kidd Valley (an awesome hamburger joint) across the street after our fun at the beach. 

The cousins thoroughly enjoyed their time together this trip.  They are getting to know each other so much more and genuinely care about each other which is so sweet.  Now, if only that sweet Gracie would make her appearance.  The more the merrier!