Cousin Camp 2011

We had an exciting week with our cousins after we returned from Legoland. My sister-in-law, Kim, had surgery about a month ago and was put on strict "no lifting" orders, so they came to stay with us for a few days so that I could help her with Aaron. I planned activities for us revolving around Community Helpers, but we could have called this week Community Service after all the fun ways we said "thank you" to these special helpers. We started our week with policemen and played a few literacy games and then baked homemade chocolate chip cookies to take to the police station. The kids were so excited (and maybe Preston was a little afraid) to meet a real policeman and policewoman. They were very thankful for the cookies and even gave each kid a "junior Officer" badge sticker.

We listened to the book "Officer Buckle and Gloria" to finish off our policemen day.

Tuesday was dentist day! We started with an egg-speriment (haha) where we soaked an egg in Coke and saw that it turned the egg brown- just like the yucky sugar food that we eat does to our teeth if we don't take care of them. Then, we all had turns at brushing the egg with toothpaste and it actually turned white again!

As every good scientist does, we recorded our findings by coloring what the tooth looked like before and after.

Next, we practiced flossing.
When Preston realized the floss was cinnamon flavored, he decided to practice on himself.
Wednesday was my favorite day- doctor and nurse day! We made doctor headbands (which the kids didn't have any clue what it was since they're not worn by doctors today), doctor kits and even doctor notes. We set up our clinic and even had a few special patients to take care of.
Here Autumn is being the "first nurse"- you know the one who comes into your room first. I think that is so cute!Our little guys didn't seem to mind that they weren't playing doctor and enjoyed having a playmate just their size.
Before our visitors had to leave, they put on a cute stick puppet show for us. It was a reenactment of Brown Bear, Brown Bear and everyone loved it.
Thursday, the boys and I served lunch at Austin Street Shelter. This was the second time we've been there and it's amazing to see them help others who are less fortunate. It's been one of the best "go and be" times for us because we've talked a lot about our responsibility to help those around us and how we've been called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to this world. We're trying to work out a way to be more involved at the shelter so that it's a regular part of our week. It was also a visual for me to use to explain what Darren and I will be doing in Rwanda since the orphanage is very similar to the shelter, it's just filled with kids instead of adults. We returned home and began to bake these yummy treats for our next service opportunity:
Nana works for Dr. Mary and we wanted to tell her thank you for helping people.
After we gave her her plate of treats,
she showed us her office. Holden was a little concerned about the skeleton but was brave enough to stay in the room.
She let the boys feel some of her special tools that she uses.
I think the favorite part of the visit was "riding" on the table. Dr. Mary lifted it all the way up and the boys thought that was the coolest thing. Darren and I ended this week of service by hosting a Parents Night Out at our church as a fundraiser for the Rwanda trip. We had 40 kids and raised over $500. I was very pleased with that! What a jam-packed week we had! Thank goodness we had a 3-day holiday weekend to help us recuperate!