June Photos

Spaghetti Fun~Sunning with my littlest fella~Popsicles after church with the McAlears

Skylanders on the Wii~Drumstick while running errands~My mowing hat

My little shadow~Basement play~Grant working on his back handsprings

Snuggles with the Girls

During our time at Cousin Camp, I had three little girls who were always looking for snuggles! Wyatt isn't always fond of sharing his snuggle time, but he was usually busy playing other things, he didn't seem to mind too much! Snuggling with my sweet nieces doesn't get to happen too often, but when it does, we take full advantage!

Cousin Camp: Medal Ceremony

The final event at Cousin Camp was the medal ceremony!! All the campers got their own ribbons with special medals on there, picked out just for them by Camp Director Grandma. It was a special moment ;-)  

It was such a fun week/day spent with all the cousins having such a great time! Barb, you've outdone yourself by far!! Good thing you have a whole year until next Cousin Camp to recover from all your hardwork!!

Cousin Camp: Drive-In Movie

We've done the drive-in movie for three years now, but it has become a staple at Cousin Camp! Most of the cars were from last year, but they did get to add a few new accessories to their cars before heading to the drive in. Their newest addition was their personalized license plates. They had to put the year and the county on there, so they wouldn't get pulled over! They also had to pick up their wallet of money so they could buy their movie treats. Max and Ruby was playing at the theater, so of course they needed some popcorn and fruit snacks while they watched!!!

As the kids get bigger, so do the boxes! Next year, Grandma might need a refrigerator box for Grant's car!!!

Cousin Camp: BINGO and Carnival Games

One of our activities was Cousin Bingo. I made the cards with pictures of all the cousins, families, fun times, etc. This was the perfect activity to do while Grandma prepared lunch! 

 Later in the day, we did carnival games! Match the duckies, Can Bowling, Fishing for prizes! Lots of prizes were collected by these campers!

Later in the day, Grant had the idea to use the leftover prizes and open his own store. Grandma gave the kiddos some play money and they got to go to the Prize Store and spend their money! I didn't get any pictures of this, but they loved this idea!!!

Cousin Camp: Silly Science

On our summer bucket list was a day of science projects. So when Grant and Grandma planned to do some experiments at camp, he was so pumped!!! After Collins and Layton went down for a nap, the big kids got to experimenting!!

But first, they had to be introduced to their Lead Scientists...

Bunsen and Beaker. 

I though Beaker was pretty darn handsome...apparently, he had an experiment go wrong right before Cousin Camp started and turned his hair a crazy green!

And all the kids got their "labcoats" on...Wyatt makes a good model..

The first experiment was jumping beans- sprite and dried beans. Lots of cool observations!

 Then it was colorful volcanos!

 Then it was elephant toothpaste!

 Then it was M&M magic. If you wait long enough, the M on the blue M&M's come off and float on the top of the water!

 Then it was fizzy balloon inflating!

 Catching bubbles!

 And the grand finale- Diet Coke and Mentos!

This was probably my boys favorite parts of Cousin Camp! They could've done a hundred more experiments!!!!

Cousin Camp: Pet Rocks

The first activity of the day was Pet Rocks. Grandma let each camper pick out a black rock and a green rock and had all sorts of fun and snazzy things to make their own pet rock! Oh my goodness, did they have fun with this!! We probably spent almost an hour on just this activity alone!!!

 After their creations were complete, they took their new pets to the living room and had a naming ceremony, where each camper gave their pets their names. I can't remember them all, but I'm pretty sure there were a few "Rocky's."

 They were so proud of their creations!

Cousin Camp: Photo Shoot

We get together with all the Broeckelman's a few times throughout the year, but there is one special day each summer that is extra special- Cousin Camp!! This was the 2nd Annual Cousin Camp Day and the kids were beyond excited!! We had kind of made a week out of the deal, since they were all doing basketball camp together too, so it made it all the more exciting! Grandma worked super duper hard to prepare a special day for her 6 grandkids!!! So before all the excitement and messes started, we wanted to get some photos of all the cousins! Wheat harvest was going on so there was a lot of hustle and bustle out at the farm! We snagged some wheat pictures while we had the chance!

I love this one of big cousin Grant, keeping his eye on the little kids!

And of course, some pictures turn a little crazy....

 I have about 500 cousin camp pics, so I'll have to break them up into separate posts! That just goes to show how much fun they had!!

Cousin Camp: Pool Time

Cousin Camp week wouldn't be complete without a trip to the pool! Bre and I took the big kids to the Oakley pool for an afternoon of fun and sun! We spent the first part in the shallow area as the kiddos tested out their swimming abilities! Then, we headed to the slides! Grant loves water slides and couldn't wait to try them all out. Wyatt wanted to go, but only on my lap. Same with Piper. And Haylie was the same with Bre. But after a few times, I talked Wyatt into going on Grant's lap, and then after only two times of that, he thought he was ready to go by himself! It was so great watching him be so brave! I went down with Piper quite a few times too! Bre and I eventually got tired of the up and down routine, so we decided to call it a day! But not before we enjoyed some popsicles!

Cousin Camp: Basketball Camp

During the week we had planned for Cousin Camp, Grinnell High School was sponsoring a 3-day youth basketball camp, which we thought would be fun for the big kids to do! The coach seriously over-estimated the skill level for 5-8 year olds, but these kiddos had a blast regardless!!

Basketball runs through the Broeckelman genes, so this kiddos were awesome!!!! This might have to be a new Cousin Camp tradition!!

Boys Trip to the Lake

When I was planning my adventure to Virginia, plans turned out that all four of the boys would head to the lake with my parents for the first few days. My parents had already had their vacation planned before I got my trip booked, and while they wanted the boys there for some of the time, they still wanted to be able to relax somewhat on their vacation. So they got to go to the lake for 3.5 days!! And from what I heard, it was 3.5 days of pure FUN!!!!! These pictures are here to prove it...

My parents are just the best!!! They gave these boys a trip of a lifetime and also allowed Levi and I to have the trip that so needed without having the guilt of leaving our kiddos behind. Mom and Dad- thank you so much for always taking care of our boys, without any hesitation or boundary, and showering them with more love than we could ever imagine!! They are so lucky to have you guys! But just so you know, they're already planning next years trip....so get some rest!