We Are Family

While we were in Utah my sister Katrina thought we'd take the opportunity to get cousin photos. All the Nielsen cousins were together minus Hunter and Harley. We're still looking to see if we can Photoshop them in. I think the photographers did an amazing job getting all the kids looking in the same direction and smiling. Liesel went into a fit of tears for unknown reasons. I'm posting some individual shots of the girls we didn't end up getting prints of. It was really tough deciding between so many good photos. Ireland always looks so concerned when Liesel holds her. Kind of like she's thinking, "Haven't we already determined this is a BAD idea?" They looked adorable though and I'm glad we could use the watermelon outfits again.

Afterwards we celebrated Jack and Benjamin's birthday at a gymnasium. By gymnasium I mean a place where gymnastics is taught. It was bar none the BEST children's birthday party I've ever attended! The kids were able to jump, flip and tumble into foam pits. There were trampolines and climbing walls. The idea was to exhaust the kids so after photos and the party they'd nap all afternoon. Somehow the adults got into it too. Reagan decided to take a running jump into one of the foam pits using a springboard. That was seriously one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life because when she hit the springboard it somehow threw her backwards rather than propelling her forward. Katrina agreed to hold Ireland while I dusted off some old cheerleading jumps on the tramps. I haven't even attempted those in years and I laughed myself sick trying them again. Too bad my camera battery died. If anyone out there has any video or photos, please, please, PLEASE pass them along!

At one point I noticed Liesel had braved a foam pit and I decided to jump in and join her. Bad move. More like no move. I am not a light toddler! I am a woman who recently had a baby. I could feel my pregnancy weight sinking me deeper and deeper into the foam. I tried moving the foam pieces directly around me but that just sunk me further. My nephew Eli noticed and ran over to where I was. "Need some help?" he cheerfully asked from the edge. "Yeah, I'm kind of stuck." He somersaulted in the pit. "You just have to get on top of it and crawl!" he said as he did just that. I didn't want to tell him I couldn't roll over on my stomach so crawling was a remote possibility. I managed to do it but couldn't get on top of it all like he advised. "Use your knees!" I was like a fish on dry land as I ever so slowly flopped myself over to the edge. When I got out I was completely sweating and everyone else was wondering why I took so long. Still the best birthday party I've ever been to. The girls had a blast, the cousins bonded and the adults were greatly entertained by it all. What a brilliant idea!