Cousin Crew & St. Patrick's Day

Jenna was in Mexico with our parents and Grandma Knowles acting as grandma's companion. Remember when Jenna watched my kids for a week when I got to go to Hawaii and be grandma's companion? That was such a special trip for me and I loved it very much - I was so so so happy to be able to return the favor so that Grandma could go and enjoy Mexico, too. They went back to our favorite resort Xcaret and even the thought of it makes me crave tacos, or any food from the Mercado restaurant. (Seriously, that's some of the best food I have EVER eaten.) We had a good week with the Haderlies and then Juniper came and joined us for the weekend for "Cousin Weekend." 

We love our cousins and one of our favorite things to do with them is to celebrate holidays together. Our favorite holidays to celebrate together include RainbowDay (our made up holiday), April Fools Day, and St. Patrick's Day. 

The night before St. Patrick's Day, the kids made their leprechaun traps and left them out. A side note: I do not know how this became a thing. I think that Lydia learned about "Leprechaun Traps" in kindergarten and because our kids are creative kids who like building things, it's something that really appeals to them. We've now been celebrating St. Patricks Day by making traps and eating green things for several years. For someone who is so opposed to "Santa", it's odd that I've allowed this holiday to evolve as it has -but I figure that the kids love it and it's not taking away from anything so it's just fun. 

David and I went all out this year and wrote each child a note from "Lucky" the Lephrechan. I was a little grumbly about it - but they turned out so fun and cute and the kids loved them - so it was definitely worth it. We had some little green candies and gold coins that we set out in the traps and the kids were thrilled. 

We also then had some green treats that we ate throughout the day - and that was the extent of our celebrations. (I had them watch a couple of picture book read-alouds on the computer about St. Patrick related topics, but that was all.) 

We went to the Children's Museum and explored. We loved the "Travel to Africa" exhibit, and the kids especially loved that they got to ride the carousel. (It's been $3 per ride since it opened, but I haven't been willing to spend that, however, this weekend they opened it up to be free for members and there was celebration.) 

We went to the Family Search Building for a Field Trip, which all of the kids loved and then we came back to our house and the kids, plus our friend Quincee, asked to do a "cooking contest". (One of their favorite activities.) They did a great job and had a lot of fun. 

Lucy and Sadie "did their makeup" with the makeup kit that Lucy got for her birthday and were so proud of themselves. Yikes. Cal came over this same night for his weekly Thursday dinner and he played Frozen music on his phone while the girls danced. His other granddaughter Olivia had recently been in a middle-school production of Frozen and he had flown back to Indiana to watch her. He was showing them the video and then playing them the songs. They loved it and he was a good sport to be so kind to them. 

These kids are just so good together. They play so well, they are so kind to each other, they bring out the creativity in each other. Sometimes we look like a production when we are taking 9 kids around with us during cousin weekend, but honestly, it's not that much more work because they are all just such. good. kids. 

Saturday we went to cheer on Matthew at his Triathalon in American Fork. We are so proud of him and how hard he has worked to train and prepare for this. "Go Uncle Matt!" 

And last, but not least - the best part about this week was the care and attention Lucy gave to Molly (pictured here with her head stuck under the gate, because as a two year old she thought it was a good idea and this is the only picture that I have of her, ha). Remember when I went to Hawaii with my mom and grandma and Jenna potty trained Lucy while I was gone? Well, this week when Jenna was gone - Molly started acting like she was VERY interested in potty training. We spent a lot of time on the potty and I asked David if he thought I should try to potty train Molly for Jenna while he was gone. We both agreed, NO. I am a terrible potty trainer and I didn't want to make it worse for Jenna when she got back. However, Lucy took the duty upon herself to help potty train Molly. She took her potty multiple times in the day, helped her get on and off the toilet, and all around took charge of the whole potty training process. When Jenna got home, she was so surprised. She sent me a text the next day, "Molly hasn’t needed a diaper change. She went poop by herself and has gone pee on the potty a couple of times! You guys must have done something! " 

I wish I could take credit for it, but I can't - it was totally Lucy. Now it's a running joke: Jenna potty trained Lucy for me, and Lucy potty trained Molly for Jenna. 

We love these kids and loved spending time together!