Allred Kids Visit

We just spent a week hanging out and babysitting our Allred cousins while Aunt Sarah and Uncle Johnny were in Hawaii! 
I know Aunt Sarah and Uncle Johnny had a great time, but I'm not sure who had more fun- us or them!

These cute cousins played so hard together all week!

Our first day of fun was Monday and we started off our week at Park Springs Park. We picnicked, played in the creek and had a great time together. 

Grant wasn't too sure about all the cold water, but he eventually figured out how to play without getting wet. 

The kids also had a great time playing on the playground together. 

 

 

That night we had a cousin's sleepover and everyone slept in the living room together after having a movie night. They were all pretty dang cute snuggled up together. 

The next day we made snow cones. This was probably one of the kids' favorite things. Everyone got to pick two flavors to add to their snow cone and they loved it. 

On Wednesday reinforcements came and Aunt Laura arrived to help. We took the kids to the library, we ate pizza one the square and then we got ice cream cones at "Spark Cafe". 

It started sprinkling a little bit before we finished our pizza, so we threw our jackets on to protect us. 

These sweet sister cousins are the best. 

"Spark Cafe" is currently closed for inside dining, but you can walk through a service window to get ice cream. So we did that and the kids loved it. They each got to order for themselves, if they wanted, and then we ate our ice cream on the square. 

Oh and no trip to the square is complete without playing in the fountain. 

Thursday brought wonderful weather and more cousin time. We tie-dyed pool towels and they turned out so cute. I duck-taped every kid's name to a towel in large block letters. Then we put the tie-dye into spray bottles and let the kids spray their towels. After they dried we pulled the tape off to reveal their names. The kids loved it. They all did such a great job. 

This was often the scene at bedtime. The kids loved huddling around Aunt Laura for story time. It was pretty cute!

On Friday we took the kids to the splashpad behind our neighborhood. Because it's so close, we were able to walk there. We also brought a picnic lunch that we were able to enjoy before playing. The kids alternated between the splash pad and the playground and they had a great time. 

After the splash pad, park and the walk home, the kids were dirty so they took turns taking jacuzzi baths in my bathtub. Honestly, Grant and Benson enjoyed this the most. 

Saturday morning found us at our local donut shop. We decided not to eat inside because its a small shop and we had nine kids between us. So we took them to our neighborhood pool and let them work off all the sugar they inhaled. 

   

They played and played. They ate all the snacks we brought and played until they were too tired to walk home. 

We spent a quiet afternoon at home on Saturday. The kids all took showers and got the house cleaned up for Sunday and went to bed happy that night. 
Sunday morning we had 8 am church and while we were gone with the kids, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Johnny flew back and arrived at our house before us. 
The Allred cousins were thrilled to see their parents and it was such a sweet reunion. 
We were so grateful for the chance to spend so much time together.

The Allreds will be moving to Utah next month so Uncle Johnny can teach at BYU. We are very excited for them but will miss seeing them as frequently. Kansas wasn't close but it was closer than Utah. With that thought in mind, we were especially grateful for all the uninterrupted cousins time. 

I was also grateful to have Aunt Laura's help. The kids all did really great together and I loved having them together, but it is definitely nice to have an extra set of hands to help out. 

Now we are off to a week in Branson with all the Drakes. Can't wait.