We didn’t manage to have a complete cousins’ camp this summer. Partly because some of the cousins moved an entire time zone away and partly because some of the cousins played on three different baseball teams all summer and partly because of my own lack of planning.

We did get two sets of cousins together last weekend, though. All their parents needed to be out of town at the same time, and we took advantage of the moment. There were only seven cousins, but they ranged in age from two to ten, so that kept things interesting.
By the time they went home, Grandpa and I were pretty much exhausted. But we made some great memories! (That’s what people say when the memory of a thing is much nicer than the thing itself. ) That isn’t entirely true. It is probably more accurate to say that in the midst of the activity, we had trouble concentrating on anything except the tasks at hand. Afterwards, we could replay events in a more lesuiely fashion and remember how wonderful it was.
They have only been gone a few hours, and I’m already planning for next year. (I have a brilliant idea for bringing in more grandparents!!!) Felicity wisely pointed out it will become harder to pull off a Cousin’s Camp the older they all get. So, I’m not letting a summer slip away again. At least not if I can round them all up and hold them still long enough to get one good group hug. And a picture.