Cousin Camp 2013 (Part One)

My sister Kristin (Kiki) thought we should have a Cousin Camp this year for all of our kiddos.  She has two boys, Will and Ben, and one girl, Ellie.  I have two boys, Garrison and Ethan.  This was by far the best idea ever!  We went to Houston last Wednesday night and stayed through Sunday.  So.much.fun! 

Of course my talented, creative, no sleep needed sister planned everything and I was just along for the ride.  I figured the easiest way to document Cousin Camp was to break my posts up day by day so here we go...

Warning:  This will be the longest post of all.  Thursday was a long day FULL of activities!

Wednesday

The boys and I got to Houston Wednesday evening.  My sister made this cute welcome sign for us.

I felt even more welcomed after walking into a yummy smelling kitchen (home made enchiladas) and my brother-in-law offering me a glass of wine.  Yes, please!

The boys were so excited to see each other!  They got to play and get some energy out and then we moved on to our first fun activity - making t-shirts for the week!

After some story time and prayers the kiddos were off to bed.

This is the first night when we were full of energy and excitement.  Just wait until the pictures in the last post of the final night!  ;)

Thursday

The kids were up bright and early Thursday morning.  Good thing Kiki had a yummy breakfast planned!  I mean, did you ever get food like this at "camp" when you were little?

 Ethan and Ellie loved it...

Thankfully it wasn't just for the kiddos!

The kids were super excited to get to put on their official Cousin Camp shirts!

KiKi taught the kids the bible verse for the week (John 3:16), we listened to the theme song for the week and even had a little dance party!

Making crosses.  The challenge of the day was to find things shaped like crosses everywhere we went.

Even Ellie Day participated! 

 

 Our first outing was to the Houston Nature Center.  I still can't believe this place was free.  They had tons of hiking trails, wildlife, playgrounds, gardens and even an indoor discovery center with a scavenger hunt check list.  Here are some of my favorite pictures!

One of the gardens talked about the five senses.  It was a really cool visual for the kids.

 

Garrison's face cracked me up...

So naturally I made him pose for another "taste" picture! :)

We passed by this office on the way to the playground.  I think someone has a lot of work to catch up on! :)

KiKi read to the little ones...

 while the big boys worked on the scavenger hunt!

 This lady was SO sweet and helped them through their lists.

 Ellie loved the fish...

 ...and KiKi kept Ethan laughing with some tickle time!

We headed over to a nearby park for lunch.  After being attacked by ants and getting all hot and sweaty we decided to head home.  It is quite apparent to my sister and I that we are far from the outdoorsy type. :)


We came home and the kids had rest time.  I might have dozed off for a bit too.  What was Kiki doing?  Probably perfecting her spreadsheet for the next day.  Or prepping for the next craft.  That girl has an endless supply of energy I tell ya'!

After nap time we took the kids to Jump In, a really cool indoor bounce house.  Huge success!

This picture of E cracks me up!  Will wasn't giving up though.

 That's more like it!

 I'm gonna' go ahead and say E is not a fan of the bounce houses just yet! :)

 They had this really cool baseball one that blew air out of the cone to support the baseball, like a tee.  The big boys loved it!

 And E was just fascinated!

 I love seeing these kiddos all snuggled up on the couch together.  These quiet moments are rare but oh so sweet!

After a full day with the kiddos we thought this would be the perfect night to have a girls' night to celebrate my sister's birthday (today by the way)!  So off to El Tiempo we went.  I'm gonna go ahead and rank this as the top Mexican restaurant ever!  Yep, you read that right!  So yummy! 

 A night out with me is not official until you put cilantro in your teeth and smile, smile, smile!

 Such a sweet cilantro smile!

 And then (as if we weren't full enough) we headed next door so I could try my first ever crepe!  I was not disappointed.  Don't worry, we shared it! ;)

 So where was our next stop?  A bar?  A club?  Nah...HEB of course!  Doesn't every mom's GNO end at the grocery store?! ;)

~Jewels*

Married Gals, Let's Keep It Classy!

I fully intended on starting my series about Cousin Camp 2013 today but I have not uploaded my pictures yet.  I am hoping to get that done tonight so I can start those posts tomorrow.

Today's post will be a bit of a venting session.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  I really do try to make most of my posts encouraging and uplifting but sometimes a girl just has something to get off her chest.  Today is that day.

I realize I am a very black/white, right/wrong kind of person.  But I also feel like I am good at reserving judgment on people for a few reasons: (1) I do not know what they have been through in their life (2) I am certainly not perfect and (3) God doesn't call us to judge, but to love.  That being said, this is one of those things that just infuriates me and I have to get it out there.

Let me preface this by saying that I love my girl friends and it really is good for the soul to spend time with some of my closest friends. 

I talk to a lot of married women and hear about their girls' nights and I can't help but sit there in awe of what they are so casually discussing.  I can't help but wonder if their husbands have any idea what these girls' nights consist of. 

Why do these girls' nights have to be at a bar/club?  Why do they dance like strippers with other girls and then complain when a guy tries to approach them?  Why do some married women feel the need to flirt with other guys?  Why do these women feel like they need to continue getting attention from guys when they are supposed to be in a committed relationship?  Some women take it as far as taking off their rings to see how many drinks guys will buy for them.  Maybe they aren't crossing the line and cheating but to disrespect their husbands like that (not to mention themselves) and to tease another guy like that just for a few free drinks - is it really worth it?! 

It is women like this who give other women a bad name.  It is women like this who discourage guys from ever committing.  It is women like this who make guys think they might as well cheat.

I have actually talked to some of these women before and it shocks me that they have loving husbands who treat their wives like queens.  They are devoted and committed fathers and husbands.  These women also complain about having sex with their husbands.  And this always perplexes me.  You have a man at home who WANTS to be intimate with you, yet you feel the need to get some random guy's attention in a bar just to make you feel better about yourself?!  And the craziest part is these are the same women who feel scorned and rejected when their husbands end up having an affair and leaving them for someone else. 

I can't help but think this is just a huge self esteem issue.  My parents didn't raise me to think I was a princess or above anyone else but they did teach me that my worth is in Jesus.  They taught me that I should treat others how I want to be treated - with respect.  They taught me that marriage is a holy union and not something to be taken lightly. 

This brings me back to the theory that if we would just raise our daughters to have better self esteem, confidence and MOST importantly find their worth in nothing and no one but Jesus they wouldn't grow up to be selfish, entitled, attention seeking women who pass those same traits onto their daughters.

I'm officially off my soap box.  And I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

 



~Jewels*