The boys had enough money in their allowance to buy a tent for a planned visit to see our cousins.
Since all of our family lives within an hour or so of each other, the adults never make a plan to spend the night, but instead, just drive home.
This visit would be different. Three families of moms and kids, ( sisters and cousins) would stay overnight so that we could visit the next day, too.
A "Tent City" was erected and the fun began...
A scrumptious meal of spaghetti and meat sauce, salad and garlic bread hit the spot on our first evening!
The visiting Moms brought some food but most of the food for this crowd of 21 relatives was supplied and cooked to perfection by our hostess,
Aunt Cecilia, shown cuddling her youngest, who had just awoken from her nap.
Swimming was the main recreation.
This pool is close to ten years old. Most people would have "disposed" of it after one season or two but not this family. They have taken great care of it and have been able to swim in it for years.
The teen-agers had a lot of fun hanging out for an extended visit.These kids, like their parents, are busy people. This window of dedicated time to just be together was really special and they were enjoying it.
Natalie was testing to see if a Big Red Wrapper really is painful when stuck to one's forehead. She was the only one who didn't think so and wore it all evening.
Unfortunately, a "bobcat" ( teen-age cousin?????!!!!) spooked the would-be campers and everyone bedded down in the basement. I retired with the nine middle cousins at midnight but the other aunts and teen-aged ladies were up 'till 3 am chatting and hanging out.
Because we were in the country and partly in the woods, I didn't even notice that it was a 100 degrees outside!
Aunt Nancy gave us an in-depth tutorial on the theory of coupon shopping. She has gotten very proficient at it and is saving her family big bucks at the check-out. Sometimes, she even gets her food or health and beauty products for free and the cashier has to pay her money back at the end of the order!
There is a definite science to this extreme couponing. Helpful web-sites are available that plan your shopping strategy based on store sales and recently printed coupons. I am not sure if I could find the time to get good at this but I do know that everything is getting more expensive and it would be wise to try this new way of shopping.
After a great lunch of hot dogs on the grill, we had s'mores for dessert, which each person just heated up in the microwave.The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed this overnight visit with our cousins and aunts (Thanks to all the Uncles and Dads who were at work keeping the ships afloat).It was such a different idea- to have local folks spend the night in order to prolong a visit. I hope we can do it again sometime!!!
Thanks, Country Cousins!!!
