Time with Cousins

  BJ and I recently went on a trip to Florida with our best friends from college. My parents were kind enough to fly down to California a couple days before the trip and then take Ellie and Lorenzo to Utah to stay at their house for a week while we were gone. My mom had watched my kiddos once before for a week long stretch when BJ and I went to Hawaii a year and a half ago, but last time she stayed here at my house. She and the kids were so happy to be in Utah where all three of my other siblings, and all of my Baum nieces and nephews live. They spent as many minutes with their cousins as possible every single day. The absolute perfect start to summer.
  My parents stayed a day after we left so that Ellie could be at her preschool graduation/bbq. We were so happy to have found Miss Anita this year. Ellie loved her preschool, and so did I. It was a very play-based preschool. For me it was the perfect balance of educational and fun. She loved her class of girls, and she loved Miss Anita.

  The first day the kids were in Utah they went to the Thanksgiving Point Farm with Katie, Halle, Jude and Tate. They rode horses and a train and saw all sorts of farm animals. They were off to a good start!

  One night they camped out in the backyard with Donny, Tate, Ramona, Ashton and Grandpa. They had a fire in the fire pit and ate "marshmallow sandwiches" (aka s'mores) as Lorenzo called them. I'm always somewhat astounded by the love between my parents and all of the grandchildren. I absolutely love, and am so grateful for how family oriented my parents have always been. They have always, always made us the top priority of their time and focus, and now my siblings have followed that example and done the same with their families, as well as the extended family. These grandchildren LOVE each other. These cousins are sweet and involved in each other's lives. So supportive and kind. We all have so much fun together. I love how all of the nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles have such a supportive, caring role in one another's lives.

  If there were fun activities planned the kids were thrilled, but if not, they still wanted to be together to just hang out.

  When I came back I spent four days in Utah with the family before coming home. My dad said he heard Lorenzo cry in the couple days I was there than he heard the whole time I was gone. So sad that that's how it is as a mom, but really, that's the best way to have it. So happy my children were good and happy for my mom and dad, and so grateful for them and their involvement in my children's lives.

  My family and Utah are always so good to us. The late nights with cousins, swimming, baseball games, shaved ice, and camp fires were the perfect way to kick off summer. Here's Ellie and Lorenzo in a full-to-the-top bubble bath the last night we were there.