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First Ever Cousin Camp

 A few months ago I decided I wanted to start a cousin camp tradition.  My oldest grandchildren are getting old enough to do more activities with and most importantly they now live close enough to easily get together.  I wasn't sure exactly how to do it, so I did what I always do in these situations--I found a book about it.  I bought this book:


I won't say the book was all I wanted it to be but it did give me some ideas and encouragement.  Maybe the most important thing I learned from the book was just to do it without making it too elaborate. 

On the recommendation of the book, I decided to do camp with my oldest two grandchildren who are 4 and 6.  They are siblings so it wasn't technically a "cousin" camp but someday it will be when my other grandchildren are older.  Having a few children still at home was helpful but I had to schedule the camp around them.  Camille had her final dental appointment on a Wednesday morning so I decided I would meet my two grandchildren at the aquarium near their home that afternoon.






After a couple of hours there, we went back home and made macaroni and cheese for dinner (this seems obvious but always make something you know they like.)

Mindy had the performance of her play Moana Jr. that night and the kids enjoyed going to that.


The next day after breakfast we had a scripture discussion about Nephi.  He was our scripture hero for camp.  We could have done more with that but we didn't.  We also introduced our camp cheer:  "We are a family and families help each other!" It sounds pretty corny but I think they liked it.  And it emphasized a point I hope they remember.

After that, we picked in the garden--something I needed to do--and that worked pretty well with Mindy and Camille helping plus challenging them to find 50 green beans each.

After the gardening we went to Big Springs for a hike. My husband suggested that location because of the creek the kids could play in.  That turned out really well because the kids didn't really want to hike that much but they really enjoyed the water.  And it was a hot day.  We found a big pipe going under the trail so the kids had a great time putting sticks in one side and then running to see them come out the other.



After lunch, we made baby rocks.  I got this idea online.  It looked simple and like something the kids would enjoy putting together and it did work out well. 






The next thing on my schedule was to go to the nearby splash pad but lunch and the baby rocks took longer than anticipated so we decided to skip the splash pad and just watch the movie, especially since the next day was going to be a water day.

That evening we made a campfire and s'mores and that was also popular.


On Friday we had another discussion about Nephi and obeying the commandments.  Then we headed off to Deer Creek for a water day with all our family members in the area.  We rented a paddleboard and a jet ski, David brought his kayak, and we brought a little raft.  The wind was a little strong at times but it was a warm day. Our new shade was also very helpful.




All in all, I'd say Cousin Camp was a success and I hope to keep doing it for a long time to come.  


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