Visit Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousins in Idaho: Part 4 - Fun with Cousins

The remainder of our time in Idaho was primarily spent playing with cousins, which was great for the kids.  Growing up, we spent a fair amount of time visiting cousins around the state, so I got to know them well.  Being so far away from our extended family means our kids haven't had that opportunity, so we took advantage of our time together.  With all the kids being in various degrees of isolation because of coronavirus, they were even more excited to have someone to play with.

Grandpa wound up making swords for all the grandkids by screwing a couple pieces of Trex deck scraps he had left over and then grinding the blade to taper it into shape.  They all had fun playing with their swords (though Derek probably took it too seriously fighting with others - he had his taken away a few times).

 

Karina and Grant started sword fighting while driving around the electric cars - kind of a modern day juvenile equivalent of a Roman chariot race.

 

Tessa apparently loves princess dress up, so she pulled out Grandma's Belle costume and a mask to wander around and model.  When she took it off, Derek swooped in and grabbed it and insisted it was his turn to wear it.  I figure this picture will be useful blackmail or to embarrass him at some future date, but at the moment, it is just cute and funny.

Octopus Grandpa got both the girls this time.

Grandpa foolishly challenged all the kids to a water fight.  I think initially he thought he was going to be armed with the hose, but he was voted down.  So he ended up with a storage container lid to use as a shield while all the kids drenched him.  Here they are preparing for him.

And here they are soaking him.

At one point, he tried to use Grandma as a human shield.  She wasn't very happy with that tactic.

When Grandpa had enough, the kids turned their guns on each other to continue the fun.

Ethan is a cute kid that frequently wanted to be part of the pictures I was taking and would come and purposely pose right in front of me.

The kids spent some time digging in an area of the back yard that the cousins have been digging in for a while. They have bridges over pits, ramparts, etc.

We went to Reed's Dairy for ice cream and to pet some of the animals.  This calf seemed to think Lydia's shirt was tasty because he kept trying to eat her shirt.  I wonder if she spilled some ice cream on it or something.

We spent an afternoon at Kellie's house with her kids and the kids swam around in their hot tub.

This ride on push car was fun for the kids - Derek and Karina helped Ethan get up the ramp on the deck.

Then Karina started giving rides to the smaller kids down the hill.  The kids started rolling down the hill at the same time like Derek in the background of the third picture below.

Finally Karina got a turn going down the hill too.

Octopus Grandpa attacked Lydia on the deck...

And Derek valiantly attempted a rescue operation.

Grandpa gave the kids some archery lessons.  It was a little nerve wracking to keep track of all the kids and make sure they stayed behind the shooter and away from the firing line.

Derek was excited he got to participate too.

I think Lydia enjoyed it the most - she even got within one circle of a bulls eye!

We joined Kellie and her kids at a local park.  Derek borrowed Dallin or Logan's bicycle and did a great job riding around with the training wheels.

Then we had fun climbing around on their water features and throwing/skipping rocks into the pond.

After lunch at a different park, the kids swung on the swings for a few minutes.

Another day, we met up at Allison's house.  They have a fun moonbounce-style inflatable waterslide that the kids loved playing on.

Since everyone was already wet from the slide, it was time for more water fights with the squirt guns.

There were lots of dress up clothes at Allison's - the kids had fun with all the costumes.  Once they got their weapons, they interrupted Grandpa's rest on the couch.

I just think this picture of Lydia dressed up is funny.  I wonder if I have failed her somehow with her mix and match accessories of an Iron Man mask, a Star Wars light saber, and a drill.  Not sure that Iron Man could successfully and simultaneously harness the power of the Force and Bob the Builder, but Lydia managed to pull it off.

One of the running games was taking advantage of Grandpa and his overprotective nature of his territory.  He has "his chair" in their living room, and the kids loved to sneak in and sit in it to have him storm in and bellow, "Who's been sitting in my chair?!"  Our kids and the Bell kids all managed to fit on the oversized chair for a picture before Grandpa could find them.