Cuz'N Camp 2014

Cuz’N Camp 2014 was an assortment of cousins coming and going, doing things together and with G/G Sappington.  David’s family showed up unannounced after a week on the Jones’ houseboat at Lake Powell.  We picked up Taisley and spent an afternoon at the St. George Children’s Museum (Kaler didn’t want to go because, at nearly 16, he doesn’t consider himself a child), but Kole, Kyle and Taisley thought it was great fun.   We followed it up with play in the water park which is always a wet and wild activity for the kids.  Dinner was at Stacy and Rick’s with Allysa and Josh and their two boys – “great” cousins Daxton and Bentley.  It was more noisy fun before David’s family went home on Monday.

We had hoped to have Lilly for the first time this year but it appears she, at age 7, is still uncomfortable with the idea of being away from her parent(s) more than just overnight ... and that's a requirement for Cuz'N Camp.  We hope she will want to come next year.

On Tuesday, we got up early and headed for Las Vegas to pick up Erin – Kris’s “baby girl” who, at almost 12-years-old was flying into McCarren as an unaccompanied minor.  After we claimed her, Cuz’N Camp’s first “mystery trip” was to the Las Vegas Discovery Children’s Museum.   It was fun, fun fun packed into 3-floors.  A little pricey at $12 per person, but well worth it with things to climb, swing on, push, pull, dial, build, dig, pour, explore and investigate.  For almost 4 hours, our pre-teens giggled over, played in and contemplated the end result at a dozen displays. 

Our second “mystery trip” of the day was to the new Silverton Casino with its new million-gallon aquarium.  Because we were there on Tuesday, we didn’t get to see the mermaids (who perform for the tourists while feeding the fish on Thursday – Sunday) but the tank was filled with dozens of species of beautiful fish.  They were interesting and pretty, even without the scantily clad girl swimmers.

Our third “mystery trip” on Tuesday was to the always popular M&M Store with its four floors of candy, t-shirts, mugs, toys and other costly memorabilia, but who doesn’t enjoy those tasty little chocolate filled treats.

On Wednesday, we spent a couple of hours at the local Deseret Industries store where the girls shopped for and tried on clothes, shoes and lots of other stuff.  Erin got a cute skirt and a couple of tops but no shoes.  Taisley found a couple of tops and a pair of “gladiator” shoes.  Both left the store happy. 

From there we went to Raymond and Linda Lowe’s home for aquatics in their indoor swimming pool where the girls dived, flipped and swam for more than 2 hours.

On Wednesday night, our “mystery trip”  was an evening at Tuacahn Center for the Arts in Ivins.  Grandma got a great deal on tickets since it was considered a “dress rehearsal” for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.  Wow, it was soooooo good.  The girls and the audience laughed at the hilarious telling of the scriptural account of Joseph and his jealous brothers and tapped their feet to the beat of the wonderful music.  It was a really fun night.

On Thursday, they were beat (and, honestly, so were we), so we decided to forgo the two “mystery trips” Grandma had planned and just stay home and work on craft projects, attend Taisley’s back-to-school night and end the day with a night swim at the Lowe’s.  Another fun – but less frenzied day!!!

Friday was supposed to be extra special, according to Grandma’s plans … starting with a “mystery trip” to the Washington County Fair.  I thought we would just spend the day riding rides, seeing the farm animals and eating over priced and mediocre food.  Turns out, the rides did not begin operating until 4 p.m. (we got there around 11 a.m.) because it was too hot.  We wandered for awhile, saw some interesting seed displays and talked to a couple of friends, then decided it wasn’t worth waiting around for 4 more hours.  On the way home, we took a side trip to the Dinosaur Discovery Museum which – surprisingly – the kids found very interesting!

Friday evening was special because after 4 days, Taisley was missing her Dad, so the “mystery trip” I had planned was especially timely.  She “guessed” we were going to the movie when I told her the “mystery trip” started at 7 p.m.  She was delighted when, instead of parking at the Stadium 8 Movie Theater, we pulled into her driveway where, in the stairwell, Rick and Danielle had created, a “laser” field made of red string.  To get to the Welch’s home theater in the basement, the girls had to navigate their way through the string trying their best to avoid touching it and sounding the alarm (Rick had some interesting sound effects).  After much laughter, both made it through then we settled into a big-screen showing of “The Lego Movie” complete with strawberries, sour cream and brown sugar … and popcorn.  The evening concluded in the back yard with a hula hoop contest, S’mores over an open fire (with the evening temperature about 100 degrees) and chit chat with the family.

Ask these two delightful young women how they enjoyed Cuz’N Camp this year.  I hope they’ll say they had a great time – despite Grandma declaring it a “no technology zone!”  Ask them about chalk art and making bombs on the driveway – despite Grandpa’s worries about damaging the house and/or the driveway.  Erin said the best part of Cuz’N Camp was seeing Taisley and me at the gate when her plane landed.  Taisley particularly liked swimming … and they both thought shopping at the Deseret Industries store and Grandpa's waffles were the best!

Next year, Cuz’N Camp will be in Puerto Penasco, Mexico (June 8-14)!  Bring your swim suits and cameras and plan to enjoy an exciting and fun-filled week at this very different Cuz’N Camp, which for the first time since its inception will see parents invited (unless the Cuz'N's talk me out of it)!