Crazy about my Cousins...

This past weekend, the kids and I road tripped to Aunt Shaye and Uncle Bryan's house for my Esprit de She race (more to come on the race later). The boys didn't have school on Monday, so that allowed us to stay the whole weekend for some serious cousin fun...eeek! We got the party started on Saturday by spending the evening outdoors and cooking out in their new outdoor kitchen...

followed by a swim in their new pool!

Going swimming was pretty much all Kason could talk about for days :). He could hardly wait to get in the hot tub...

not the cold tub (or pool as normal people would call it!) Mimi even drove up to join in on the fun which the cousins were all squeals about...

 Aunt Shaye's pool is absolutely beautiful, especially the waterfall...

 The best part, is there is a sneaky little bench on the other side!

There are a couple of sun tan ledges that the kids loved splashing around on...

but the big hit of the party was their hot tub. These two fishes had a blast swimming around...

 I will say it was a little weird swimming at the end of October since it's oddly hot still, but their pool is heated so the water wasn't too cool for the little rascals.

 I believe my favorite part of the pool was their lighting because it changes colors!

 I can already tell we will be having several shindigs throughout the years thanks to Aunt Shaye's party central :)! After the race on Sunday, we headed over to their church's trunk or treat.

 Doesn't Sadie look precious?!? She was a cupcake princess while Kason chose to be a football player since we are saving his real costume for Halloween night. He was really shy at first, but finally started jumping in by playing the games to win candy!

Zoe wasn't too interested in playing any games, but she was definitely all about the food! Her face would light up anytime she had a chance to get popcorn or candy...

This was Max's first time to go to any type of carnival/festival, so we had to let him join in. Mimi even helped him do the limbo!

We would try to help him pick out candy which he thought was fun, then he would shake the wrapper before flinging it as far as possible, and proceed to giggle like crazy. We worked on him putting the candy into a bag which was a bit challenging considering all the flying of Twix bars, but I think he just may have the trick or treating thing down by Friday :). The kids also had fun going through a maze together...

 but I believe the favorite of the night was the hayride.

 We so loved every minute with our cupcake and cupcake princess cousins! I feel so fortunate to live close enough to my sister that our kids are getting to have these experiences together even though we live in different towns. What a joy to see these cousins become friends because they are already crazy about each other!

 The kids and I had a special treat spontaneously on the way home Monday. We drove over to see my good friend Joni and Kason's future wife Addy :). Can I just say I honestly believe these two were meant to be best friends? I have never seen Kason play so smoothly with another kid like he does with Addy. They don't fight at all and they get along so incredibly well. In fact, this was probably the quietest play date my kids have ever been too...

Not a single kid argued, pushed/pulled, picked on each other...they all played so well together. It was amazing to spend several hours just visiting with my gal while watching the kids play. Seeing Joni, Addy, and Elli just did both mine and Kason's hearts so much good!