Adventures of Duck Creek :Day One

JJ's parents recently acquired guardianship of 5 of their grandkids. With Zach being home,  they are starting over with a family of 6 again.  As crazy as it is, they are happy to step in for their family.  Since we hadn't seen these precious cousins for 4 years, we rented a cabin in Duck Creek Utah for week of bonding time.  And bond we have. The kids were instant friends starting with our Friday night 2 am check in that woke their sleeping cousins, created much giggling and one grumpy granny--oops.

I have to say this place is awesome! A spacious cabin with great mountain views of pine trees and marsh fields. There is plenty of room to roam and explore--something I feel my kids have been deprived of too much in their childhood. The kids have had two rules: Explore with a buddy and stay within sight of the cabin. Being set on a hill they have had plenty of space for adventures....

 Isabel and Terra (born two weeks apart) are two peas in a pod. They came back in the first hour of the morning telling us about their adventure trudging through marsh waters and a barbed wire fenced to see some horses of a neighbor. They felt so empowered from the whole experience, they swore they would never be afraid of anything ever again. When I suggested that maybe I should accompany them in the future to ask permission to pet the horses,  Isabel said, "I don't know Mom, it's pretty intense. "  Appearantly too intense for me.

The TerraBell Duo

(See all the knotts)

Unfortunately, these too (nicknamed TerraBell)  are a little too clever for their own good sometimes. Later in the morning, Terra wanted to climb up a tree out front. Unfortunately the nearest branch is about 12 feet off the ground. Isabel said she didn't think that would be safe --good girl. But once convinced, she masterminded the plan on how to get her up-- doh!. There was some thin nylon rope laying next to the tree. They tied the rope to a frisbee and threw it over the branch, then they tied one side of the rope around her waist with about 10 knotts (" to be safe") Then all the kids pulled on the other side of the rope hoisting her up until she could climb onto the branch. JJ's mom and I were in the kitchen making sandwiches for lunch while all this happened right under the noses of JJ and his dad, noses which were buried in their smart phone and laptop respectively. They were on the deck with a clear view, but didn't notice until she was already in the tree. JJ at least had the sense to grab the camera before reprimanding them with the admonition of "very clever, but very stupid!"  

Crazy Girl in the Tree

Our other Favorite Memories of the day

Aunt Vanessa the Make-up Guru of the family

did rainbow eyes on all the girls. 

Spending time at the lake

The girls caught these Dead fish with their bare hands!

While we took rides on a friend's pontoon boat

JJ and Mikey went about building their own

JJ and the girls trying it out

It wasn't as stable as he would have liked, but he only had some thin rope and an hour. Give him a day and He would have had a sailboat :)

Even setting aside the fact he's my husband and best friend,

 there is no one I would rather be stranded on a desert island with!

The kids all got a wooden box from Grammy to decorate to be their treasure box

Every night the kids share treasures they found from their day!

Needless to say it's been a hit

And of course the best part,  just spending time together...

JJ and his sister Vanessa

Isabel with Grammy

I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive at how it would be with all of us in one house together for a week. 

-- But I have been pleasantly surprised...... so far.