Dinner at 10:30 pm

Carolyn and I retrived Melanie and Ella this morning from EFY.  Melanie is on the left.  Her new friend Stephanie is on the right.

Don't worry.  We didn't leave Ella there.

The four of us enjoyed breakfast at Kneaders.

After that, some of us went to the pool.  Ben, with his new swimming powers, thinks he's king of the world.

Nate loves the water.

Julia is still dangerous.

Jacob has been working on favorite grandchild status.  Later in the day, after an incident with the legs of a chair, his head, a computer, soup and cutting bread, he got there.  The details are between us, so don't ask.

We had quiet time this afternoon.  Some were creative.  This is Melanie's masterpiece.

Dave played the guitar for a long time.  It was wonderful.

I missed Melanie's look during a pivotal moment in Portal.  But this came next.

The Perler beads came out while Ben was asleep.

Nate is making something special for me.  We ran out of time, so we'll finish it later.

A pleasant surprise was when the puzzles seemed to appear on the table by themselves.  Julia on the right of me...

Nate on the left...

Arr!

A little horsing around always happens when cousins play.

The kids discovered a little-used box of brain teasers.  I need to put them in a more prominent spot, because this was fun.

Later in the evening, with me tending, we had treats on the balcony.

Then, my peeps and I watched a little Star Trek.

The evening turned into nighttime.  Planes were late.  We were up late.  That didn't stop us from making bagel dough for tomorrow's breakfast.

The sourdough bread came from Kneaders earlier in the day.

The soup was courtesy of Campbell's.

I was impressed that most of the kids waited up to eat dinner with more cousins!

Making a Splash!

I felt braver this morning and enjoyed a mug of Dave's chocolatey, which is chocolate water.  With salt.  This is his creation, but I'm honestly surprised to be supportive.  I also had a cheese bagel.  I was so into this breakfast that I almost forgot to take a picture.

After breakfast, I got a head start to the pool with some kids.  Ben went right in.  Julia brought him to the edge.

Nate loves the pool.

Julia knows how to make a splash.

The guns are fun, but they are also a bit of an issue.  Everyone likes to spray the others, but not everyone likes to be sprayed.

Ben was oblivious to all of that.  He was intent on jumping in.  This is a shallow part.

He saw Jacob on the deep side, ran over and jumped.

Big splash!

I asked Jacob to back up.

He backed up some more.

Our intent was to get Ben to hold his breath.

I've done a lot of fun things at the pool, but this is at the top of the list.

It was hard for Jacob to let Ben go under, but he did it.  Ben was unfazed.

Carolyn finally arrived. She doesn't need anyone to catch her when she jumps.

She soon became engaged in helping Ben jump.

She's a good teacher and Ben trusts her.

Within 30 minutes, Ben was out in the pool swimming around.

He was having a grand time.

I was paying attention to the other kids.  Honest.

But I couldn't take my eyes of this kid swimming all over the pool.

By the end of our morning, his form had actually improved.  Ok, I know he was in a life jacket, but this was amazing.

Sore from yesterday's hike, Carolyn suggested a trip to the hot tub.

The kids were cold so the water felt hot. Carolyn gave Julia instructions on how to work herself in.  Julia listened but stayed on the edge while Ben listened and went in.

What a fun morning!

We made Dan Dan noodles again, but with Carolyn and Corinne in the kitchen with me, the recipe took a few delicious twists.

I asked Julia if she liked the noodles.  She said yes.

Ben wouldn't touch the noodles.  He is asking Jacob if they can go to the big pool. 

Some of us had drumsticks for dessert.

Nate was in attack mode today.

After lunch, I took three kids to a movie.  Action, excitement, an underwater rescue and true love.  We came home to Memory Tiles.  Filled with adrenalin from the movie, I won the first game.

Nate took me on and creamed me.

Much to my grief and dismay, I cannot interest Ben in tiles.

Early in the evening, a few of us went on a walk.

The scooter came along.

Busy trucks captured Ben's attention.

Some in our group needed to be pulled in the wagon for the second trip around the block.

Julia decided to help out the grownups.

She took a turn on Ben's scooter.  Mom told her to lean to steer.  I don't think Julia knows what that word means.

Slowly but surely, she got the hang of the scooter.

Ben, with a vivid imagination, got stuck in the mountain.

After our walk, Papa discovered a need for a small repair job in the garage.

Ben pushed the button to open and close the door several times until it was fixed.  Then, he clapped!  Papa Ben let him climb the ladder, too.