Cousin Camp

Last winter, Lucy came to me with her sad face on. Her best friend had just returned from another visit with her grandparents, where there were kids galore. "Mom, why don't I have any cousins? It's not fair!"

 

Truly it is not fair, my dear, because you have gobs and gobs of wonderful cousins who unfortunately live 2500 miles away from you. Which is why you and your brother have to spend the month of July in Utah to get enough of a cousin fix to last you for a while.

 

These lucky kids have 12 Gray cousins, all right about their age.

Gram and Papa Gray planned 9 straight days of cousin adventures for Lucy and Gavin's visit. Kids came and went as their parents' schedules allowed, but from what I hear it was just days and days of sleepovers, museums, games, art projects, macaroni and cheese feasts, and fun.

Up the canyon at Cascade Springs.

The "Museum of Natural Curiosity"
Plenty of curiosity here.

Playing paleontologist at the Dinosaur Museum.

Doing the "Peanut Butter and Jelly" song at Springville Art Museum.

 They went lots of places together and even did some sleepovers at cousins' houses go give poor Gram and Papa a break. But just being at home with Gram and Papa was pretty great too.

Feeding Falcon over the back fence.
These blond, blue-eyed boys could be twins.

Just hanging out together.

Celebrating for the sake of celebrating.

Taking a minute to FaceTime with their lonely parents.

Gram gave both kids a journal and bribed them 25 cents a page to write about all the fun things they did, so they can remember after they get home again. (Way to go Gram!)

If you want the whole story direct from the source,
you can read about it here.

Oxford Memories

The kids' big climb up Oxford Peak with their grandpa reminded me of the many family hikes I took as a kid to the top of the peak. I found a few classics in an old photo album:

 

At the top with Dad, Mom, and Dave.
I was probably 4 years old.

Sharing lollipops with Uncle Baird and Uncle Bob.
Age 6 or 7 maybe?
Wearing a pioneer bonnet to walk . . . and walk . . . and walk. . .

Hiking the peak with Dave, age 13 or so.
I don't think we matched on purpose.
That's a seriously stylin' flattop, brother.

I took this photo of Grandpa at the top.
I will always remember him exactly like this.

Oxford Peak

  The kids convinced us that this summer, instead of going to Lotus Lake Camp, we should send them west for a few weeks with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. With some trepidation (we knew THEY would be fine, but would WE?) we sent them off on a plane to Salt Lake City on the 4th of July. Dad picked them up at the airport and drove them to the ancestral Fisher home in Oxford Idaho for the weekend.

Note tall mountain in the background!

Their first morning in Oxford they woke up bright and early for an assault on Oxford Peak, a 10+ mile roundtrip hike with nearly a 5,000 foot elevation gain. Luckily my kids have some muscles in those long, skinny legs of theirs!

Gate with Fisher FX brand.

On the trail with cousin Sarah.

Some bushwacking was required.

You don't find these views in Vermont!

At the top with Grandpa!

 I was so proud of these guys! They hiked tough, with encouragement from Grandpa and some help from Twizzlers and "supercharged" Tootsie Pops to keep them going.

Leaving messages in the notebook at the peak.

 I remember hiking Oxford Peak with my Grandpa Fisher many times. I'm so glad that my kids got to experience this essential Fisher rite of passage with their Grandpa.