Cousins

Whenever my nephew is in town, I feel like it is important for my kids to spend time with him. At this point, he is Connor and Isla's only chance at having a relationship with a cousin. And given that I had such an amazing time with my cousins growing up (and still do today), I want my kids to have that as well.

With temperatures in the triple digits on the 4th of July and some time to spare before fireworks, I thought it would be fun for the kids to play in some water. Apparently the kiddy pool my parents had didn't last through the winter, so my dad improvised and pulled this into the front yard:

I'm told it is a "cowboy bathtub" that my parents currently use as backyard art. But after a quick rinse, it worked perfectly as a little pool for the kids. They had so much fun.

All three of the kids fought for control of the hose. And Isla seemed to have the most fun just climbing in and out of the tub. And whenever I got too hot, I just walked close enough to get spayed with the hose and was fine again. It was a good time had by all.

As for fireworks, Isla loved 'em. The girl is fearless. We definitely need to be careful about that. She even held sparklers on her own. Connor, on the other hand, wouldn't hold a sparkler and spent pretty much the entire time we were lighting fireworks in the car. He said the noise bothered him (which it's also the barking noise from dogs that bothers him). I must say, the people in my parents neighborhood get way more into 4th of July than my neighborhood and it was really fun. Everyone in their court was out doing fireworks together. So fun.