We had lots of sleepovers at Grandma Gloria's and Papa's ....it's a house full but they love it! Grandma Gloria is such an awesome Grandma and loves making all her kiddos special breakfasts and loves just being with them in the morning. Reecey and KK also came over to Grandma Dottie's one night for a sleepover with Uncle Luke. The kids were using their imaginations and playing so well together....besides a few "he took that from me"....Or "I had that first." You know... that sharing thing is still kinda hard for Reecey and Cost. By the end of the three weeks that we're together us adults are all a little crazy and saying to each other..."Can you even imagine having this many kids? And twins???" ...but as much as they drive us crazy we love the memories they'll have of being together. It's chaotic but we wouldn't have it any other way. We only get to do it twice a year with everybody living all over the place!
A couple days we took the kids to the pool......we've been doing that a lot this summer! Keeping cool and getting energy out at the same time. They love it...and Costa was so excited to show his cousins all the cool tricks he's learned since we got here. Jumping and flipping in! Such a little fish. Auntie Nisa bought him some batman goggles for his birthday...he thought those were pretty darn neat, especially since Reecey had spiderman ones! Little boys and superheroes, so cute. Artie brought Niko and Gabey over a few days to hang out with the kiddos, they all played and had fun together!
One day we wanted to do something different besides swimming, so we decided to take all the kids bowling! Halle and Costa had never been and they had a blast!
Of course there was a couple trips to the mall....The kids got really excited when they saw the train at Chandler Mall. Especially Reecy...he's our little train lover. They had a ball. We also got Reecey some crocks to match Cost......and then Hallers and KK got matching cherry jibbitz for their crocks.
We ventured to San Tan Mall another day....had to hit up the splash pad! Another fun thing to do to stay cool (well, the kids anyway!)
One night, the kids entertained us with a dance "show"....they were absolutely adorable! Papa was the DJ. We were all cracking up at Costa....he was really busting the moves. He's my little guy with rhythm. Hilarious. Halle was pretty funny trying to be in charge, coordinating and announcing everybody. KK had made a hair thing with all the ribbons she could find in grandma's drawer and was calling it her popstar ribbons. Love these little moments...they're just great.
The last weekend, Nise and I decided to head up to Pinetop with all the kiddos! Mom and Dad Contreras were going up and really wanted to spend Nisa's last weekend with her so we all went along. Jeff had to get back to Virginia for work, so it was just the mama's, grandparents and kids. We didn't go up until saturday afternoon and when we got there it was raining! It was SO beautiful but kind of a bummer because the kids couldn't really play outside. Cooped up again...just like in the valley. They did pretty well, though, entertaining themselves inside and watching movies. That night we made shishkabobs and Uncle Ralph and Auntie Diane came over and ate with us! It was great to catch up and visit with them!
Sunday was a pretty relaxed day.....pretty rainy again. Love the peacefulness you feel when you're up there! It's easy to take LOTS of naps....lol. And we did lots of lounging;) My dad actually came over and had coffee with us in the morning, always great to see my daddy. I know he just loves it when we come up there. That afternoon it had stopped raining so the kids did end up playing outside for awhile and even took a walk with Grandma and Papa. Later, we decided to get the kids out of the house for a bit and enjoy the weather. We took them to the White Mountain Family Park where they have the go-cart rides. What a riot! All the kids were too small to ride by themselves so they needed an adult to go with. It worked out perfect, the kid to adult ratio we just had to borrow a girl that worked there to go with Kaitlyn. Prego's can't ride so I got to hang out with my little Ally! We had fun watching all the excitement!
That night my dad and Terry had invited us all over to his house for dinner. He got a smoker for father's day and had smoked a pork roast. Oh my gosh was it amazing! Excellent dinner Dad and Terry! Dad also started a fire outback so the kids could roast marshmallows and have s'mores......of course. It was cute, since my dad and Terry missed Costa's birthday they had a cake for him and a present. He was excited to celebrate his birthday all over again! They got him a tackle box and he thought that was pretty cool.....can't wait for Grandpa Tom to take him out and get that line wet! It was a fun another fun night at Grandpa Tom's and Terry's house!
It was a super quick trip, but I'm SO happy we got to go. More cousin cabin memories for everybody! We had so much fun...I can't believe how quickly three weeks came and went by SO quickly. It's always hard to say good-bye....we just love them so much! We'll be looking forward to december to do it all again!!!
