Kelli messaged week reminding me that it was Fall Fest at the local community college. It’s a big event where they put up all kinds of bouncy houses for the kids and add in a bunch of carnival-type activities. The Moo Mobile (think milkshakes) was there…cotton candy and even a meal.
It’s a fun event for kids right about the ages that my grandkids are.
Kelli wanted to go and take Georgia but with these two, it’s not easy to take them all. I reminded Kalissa that it was Fall Fest and we ended up taking her boys, Carver and Gannon too.
Georgia can be iffy. Either she’s really good or she’s full of temper tantrums. Today was… a good day.
Here she is going down the big slide. She loved it!!
If you’ve been a long-time blog reader, you might remember that Gannon and Georgia, haven’t always gotten along the best. Now they are fast friends and act as if they’ve never not liked each other. Here is Gannon waiting at the bottom of the slide for Georgie.
They had an ambulance there so that kids could go inside and check it out.
Gannon thought that was pretty cool.
Georgia did too. They weren’t one bit shy.
Carver liked it too.
Some of the activities were free. Some cost one or two tickets. Tickets were only 25 cents each. The kids had fun with bubbles. Kalissa is making some for the kiddos to chase.
Kelli was helping Georgia make some.
I watched the boys most of the time while Kelli and Kalissa managed the mobile kids.
It was a fun event and I’m so happy the college puts on a good night of family fun.
I took Friday to try to catch up around here and the Saturday was what has been loving been referred to as “COUSIN DAY”. That means the cousins (grandkids) gather at my house.
Buck had a bachelor party. Kelli and Kalissa had worked the overnight shift the night before and had to work overnight on Saturday too. That means I was in full grandma mode with 8 of the 9 grandkids here.
Of course, it rained so we ended up playing in the garage.
They all had LOTS of energy to burn. These kids really do so much fun together and for the most part, get along really well.
Scotty is in the center of the above picture. He’s the oldest of the bunch and just turned seven. Eli and Emmett, Kelli’s twin boys, are the youngest at 17 months.
Jasper wasn’t here. That’s our daughter Kayla’s boy. She was hosting a garage sale and they had an afternoon wedding.
Gannon’s shirt says “SUPER LOUD”…but he really wasn’t on this day…thankfully.
Georgia now has it in her head that she is supposed to move her hands like that and make a face like she is in the photo below when she gets her pictures taken.
This is typical Emmett…climbing everything.
Eli loves Rosie and Rosie does a great job tolerating him. We are working with Eli but he’s not always the most gentle.
I tried to get the kids to stand in line from tallest to shortest. It didn’t go the best as you can see from the pictures.
It goes from tallest to shortest…Scotty, Carver, Lucy, Gannon, Georgia, and Lilly.
What a bunch!!
I honestly tried really hard to get them to all look at me at once. As you can see my efforts were unsuccessful.
Lilly is a year younger than Georgia but they are almost the same height.
Sometimes when they are all here I feel a little sad. I don’t get time for them individually.
So many Grandmas I know talk about how they did this or that with their grandkid…that is virtually impossible here.
Then I came to the realization that it is okay. My grandkids will likely have memories of my house and their time with cousins than specifically about time spent individually with me…and that’s all okay. They will still be happy memories…and that’s all that matters.
Again, I tried to get the troop to all look at me at once. Again, that didn’t happen.
I thought about getting family pictures and then thoughts nope. I don’t think it would work.
I did have to laugh when I saw this picture come up in my memories. It’s hard to believe at one point all of the grandkids could fit in my lap.
…and they all could look at the camera at once. My times have changed.
Oh, I love this bunch of kiddos. Life as the Grandma is wonderfully good!!
Oh you’re making memories with every single one of them. I can imagine: “Remember when Grandma Jo made XXX for lunch?” “Remember when we all played outside in the rain and Grandma Jo laughed and laughed and cleaned us all up when we were done?”.
Oh the stories they’ll tell and all will be with you at the center hosting their shenanigans :-)
I bet if you shared your desire to have some time with each child so they could feel your love, I imagine their parents can figure out how to support you and their children! Knowing Grandma love is so important! Just like cousin love!
You have to love it, even though it is exhausting!
Jo,
I was going to tell you yesterday that in the picture of you with your cousin Jody and her brother, that Georgia looks like you in that picture…..so much resemblance. What a bunch of sweet grandkids (most of the time, right?). Enjoy them now as they love being with Grandma a lot when this age. They grow up so fast! Enjoy your blog.
Oh I can assure you that they’ll remember grandma and her house of fun. My olders sibs got to be at our grandparents place a lot. Before they left Iowa for California. The stories they and mom told were such fun to listen to. Unfortunately we 3 younger sibs missed out on all that. But we had fun at family reunions.
I know a family of cousins who had their picture taken once a year on front step. Every year they sat in same order.
Oh what a busy time it must have been! I could see so much love among the cousins. There will come a day when you will get to do things individually with each one. You gave me many smiles seeing these great pictures – and I love Georgie’s pose!
Super sweet, Jo!!! Cousin time is THE BEST at Grandma’s house!
Lucky kids.
where did the babies go ????? amazing how they grow.
What amazing fun they are all having at Grandma Jo house, memories being made.
Sounds like a fun filled day at Grandma’s house! They will have wonderful memories of their tome spent with you and each other. Love seeing all the pictures. I’d swear the kids are getting some Miracle Grow – They are growing up so fast!
with 7daughters my grandparents had cousin days with one daughter having 11 and the one with the least at 1. every amount in between from 2 -5. And I can promise that we all have some very wonderful personal experiences to reminisce about. Hope that gives you hope.
I think you are amazing!! All the grands at one time is fantastic. Hugs,
Those have to be the best days…for your and the little ones!! They will never forget.
You can sure tell they are related, they almost look like siblings.
Enjoy the times.
Wonderful memories, Jo, for you and the children! Their expressions just crack me up *lol*
All of this Love! What could be better? God bless you with all of these wonderful days for a long time to come!
Jo,
When trying to take group pictures, try taking a movie, then you can select a single frame that hopefully has everybody looking the same way at the same time. :)
Kara
I only have 3 grandchildren and they live two hours away. They are all from the same family, so I rarely got one on one time with them. When we were all together, a lot of times the adults hung out more than we got to hang out with the kids. When they got old enough to drive, they had jobs, so their time was limited.
However, we all have lots of memories together and treasure them. All I’m trying to say is, those will be your memories – getting to play with all the cousins, helping you quilt, sew, cross stitch, cook, garden, spending the night. Each family works differently and it’s all just fine.
Some of my favourite childhood memories involve hanging with all my cousins at Grandma’s house
The time you have with them will mean so much to them in the years ahead. All but 1 of my grands are far away and I don’t see them as often as I would like. One on one or all together….cherish it! They will grow up too soon.