Skip to main content

Mega-Messy Summer Fun!

If you're like me, you're already thinking about how to fill those long summer days with fun stuff for kids.  In this post, I want to share one of my all-time favorite things for my kids ... ever.  We call it Cousin Camp!

For the past several summers, all of the cousins on my husband's side of the family have gotten together for a fun-filled "Cousin Camp."  Eight kids ranging in age from four to ten, all in one house for one week of super-crazy, mega-messy fun!  Hubby's sister teaches private swimming lessons so once we have all the kiddos signed up in their lesson slots, we start planning the fun!

The last time we were all together we planned "Messy Week" ... five days of the craziest, messiest fun we could think of.  Here are some highlights:

Color Me Happy

At a cousin's baseball game, we let those in the audience draw on themselves -- and others -- with colored ink pens.  They had a blast drawing pictures, writing notes, and copying tattoos!

   

Creating fun tattoos!


Fun Dipper Dinner

Dinner was on-the-go this day so we planned portable fun dippers for all.  The menu included:

Homemade chicken nuggets
Carrots
Sliced Apples
Strawberries
Grapes

Dipping Sauces:

Ketchup
Ranch Dressing
Chocolate Dip
Caramel Dip
Yogurt


    
Yummy Dipper Dinner!


Summer Snowball Fight!

Later, the kids enjoyed a summer 'snowball' fight.  We cut ladies' stockings into sections, tied a knot at one end, filled it with flour, then tied a knot on top.  The kids had a blast tossing these at each other and watching the 'poofs' of 'summer snow' as they went.  ** One note: the household dog, a labrador retriever, loved to eat these!  We had to keep her away from them as she would gobble them up.  So if you think you might give this a try, you might want to put the pets up first.



   
Fun Summer Snowball Fight

This represents only one day of fun, so I'll post more later, but I hope you enjoyed it.  The kids had a blast and there was no moping about being 'bored' for us!  Happy Summer-to-Come!


Comments

  1. Thanks for your comment! I believe the woman who made those margarita glasses bought one of the sets from Khols or Ross or one of those other type of stores, then painted the glasses herself. Regardless, I love them. Heck, even my husband wants to use them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the snowball fight! How creative.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such cute ideas!! I love it when people let kids get messy... after all, that's what childhood is for!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, Sara. Don't know if I'll be hand-painting my own, but I'll be on the lookout for cute sets!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Paula, I'm much better at researching fun ideas than coming up with my own. I'm sure this idea was found online somewhere ... but thanks! It was a ton of fun. And Erica, we're never afraid of a mess ... in fact, it's a way of life. =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! That DOES sound like A LOT of fun! Might have to do a bit of thinking on something similar. At least that we can do as a family.

    Two of my kids are older (13 and 16), but the littlest one is nearly 4. I still think they would all have quite a bit of fun having an opportunity to just get dirty and messy for awhile.

    Thank you for sharing such wonderful ideas!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Fabulous Remarks

Popular posts from this blog

The Change of Command Ceremony

Last Friday, my Family and I participated in the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division change of command on Fort Hood, Texas.  Hubby became the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment and joined a wonderful group of "Red Dragon" Soldiers and Families.  It's a dream come true for us ... one of those things you hope in the back of your mind you'll get to do one day, but know realistically that the chances are slim you'll get to do it. When I first saw his name on 'the list' that the Army publishes, I was elated for him.  No one knows more than I do his passion for the Army and for the Soldiers in it.  He is a wonderful leader and cares so much.  We both knew that this would be the adventure of a lifetime.  We explained this new job to our two boys (ages ten and six) as best we could and they kept saying, "We'll have 500 new friends on Friday!" as their summary of the discussion.  =) The ceremony was amazing, a st

Rooftop Promotion Party at Old Ebbitt

We decided that 21+ years of military service and a promotion to Colonel warranted an extra-special celebration.  Since the promotion ceremony was at the Pentagon, we had lots of great venue options in our Nation's Capitol.  We loved living in the National Capitol Region and really wanted a very "DC" experience.  After researching and asking lots of DC expert friends, we decided on the Old Ebbitt Grill and their Rooftop Terrace. We could not have dreamed up a more amazing space.  The views are absolutely breathtaking, the staff  is professional, friendly, and accommodating, and the food is delicious.  The combination of passed hors d'oeuvres, embellishment platters, and a mini bar ensured that everyone was well-fed and able to enjoy each other and the venue.  Adding mini cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes topped off a delicious evening. The Rooftop provided the perfect venue for our big weekend.  Even the weather cooperated with our plans and we enjoyed a light bre

TORCH and ADVON

Photo: ADVON returning from a year-long deployment. Okay, I have to admit that after 15+ years as an Army wife, I don’t know what ‘TORCH’ and ‘ADVON’ stand for. Something about advanced party … but there’s no ‘p’ for ‘party’ … so I just don’t know. I do, however, know what it means. It means your Soldier comes home FIRST!! We’ve never had the honor of either of those designations. My husband somehow manages to get himself into the ‘stay-behind-and-make-sure-all is-well-out-here’ job and comes home late or last. Not that I’m complaining, though, as I am happy these TORCH and ADVON folks get here and get the place ready for everyone else to come home. In a way, it’s reassuring to me. The wheels are turning, the process has begun … our unit actually is coming home and coming home soon! Homecoming becomes reality, not just a long-sought-after dream. It’s good to see our unit patch and our unit Soldiers back at home, on U.S. soil and on our Army installation. It’s heartening to w