Aunt Becky Camp Part 2- July 6 to July 19.

Did we mention is was really hot when we were back in Ohio?  I know we live in South Carolina, but I don't think I'll ever get used to the heat.

At least Georgie thought to use eye protection before going outside in the glaring sun.

 But by noon (or before), we retreated into the cool house.  Generally to make salami beards for lunch.

One evening, we sent the big kids off to see Shrek the Musical.  The rest of us walked down the street to visit Dairy Queen!  I don't know who had more fun.

Somewhere during the week, the kids decided they wanted to do a lemonade stand.  Before we knew it, it turned into a community event!  People came out from all over town and we also got to see a bunch of relatives!  In the end, the kids raised over $400 for the Ronald McDonald House in Ann Arbor.

At this point of the week, I was getting pretty exhausted by all these kids.  Thank goodness, Aunt Mary came in and helped keep everyone happy.

 On Friday, we had to take Uncle Brandon up to Detroit to fly out for a conference.  Henry, Oliver and I took him to the airport and swung by Ann Arbor to love on Hudson for a bit.

 He was still waiting on his first surgery at this point.

The nurses had decorated Hudson's room, including hanging his name on the window, so Uncle Kevin and Aunt Elizabeth could see his room from the Ronald McDonald House, which you can see right across the road.

Uncle Kevin came home for a few days with the kids, so we moved over to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  June got tired of the hair in her eyes, so Grandma cut her some bangs.

 June also decided to change her name to Ringbly.  I think it's a hybrid of My Little Ponies and her good friend, Blakely.

 I was trying to get the kids settled in their trundle bed, but then Grandpa came in and got everyone wound up again.  Being a Grandpa is the best!

 During week 2 of the Aunt Becky Camp, we really settled into a nice groove.  We found a project on pinterest where you take rocks and warm them up to 200 degrees in the oven.  (We weren't that far off out in the sun.)  Then you color them with crayons.  The crayons melt as you color and it was really a lot of fun.  You can see that we used plenty of the landscaping rocks for this project.

 We also made stencils from freezer paper and painted t-shirts.  June and Tessa got pegasus unicorns.  Cecelia got a puppy.  And Natalie drew her own bunny.

 Henry designed two trains for him and Oliver.

Thanks for letting us come stay with you, Seibert kids!

Aunt Becky Summer Camp- July 6-19th.

so what do you do when your mom and dad are in another state with your new brother?  You call in Aunt Becky!

 Uncle Bran and I hosted a two week long summer camp in Archbold for the 7 Seibert and Turner kids.  

 Frequently, we even invited the neighbors over for some outdoor fun!

 Everyone got bathed periodically.

 We practiced for when baby Hudson came home. 

 Natalie and I even found some time for a sewing project.

 Mostly, the kids were just happy to be together.  June and Tessa generally woke up, then disappeared for hours to play.

 And the best part was that everyone over the age of 5 pretty much took care of themselves.  When you've got that many kids, you start doling out jobs quickly.  We learned early on that we could put Natalie, Oliver and Henry in charge of lunch and everyone would get fed.  Not bad!

The only real drawback was that it soon became WAY too hot to go outside and we didn't have a van big enough to fit all of these hooligans into.  One day we made the 3/4 mile walk to the big church with the indoor playground.  

 

It was so much fun!

 Until we had to make the 3/4 mile walk/bike back home.  That is one sweaty bunch of kids.

Baby Hudson!- July 2.

The 10th Seibert grandkid was born on July 1.  And when you're the 10th grandkid and the 5th kid in your family, sometimes you've got to do something spectacular to get noticed.  

 Hudson Joseph was was in Ann Arbor, weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces. 

 He was born in the Children's Hospital in Michigan because during Aunt Elizabeth's pregnancy, it was detected that he had a heart defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.  In short, half of his heart was severely undeveloped.

  On July 2nd, mama drove up from Marion and met Grandma and Grandpa Seibert and the rest of the Seibert kids to meet new baby Hudson.  

  Enjoy your quiet time, little brother, because it's going to be crazy when you get home!

 I don't want to make any bold statements, but I'm pretty sure Hudson said I was his favorite aunt.

Fast forward 6 months and we're very happy to say that after 2 months in the hospital and 2 major open heart surgeries, Hudson is home and doing great.

July visit to Marion.

At the beginning of July (well, really for most of the month), we took a trip to Ohio.  we started out in Marion with Grams and PawPaw.

Aunt Katie and Uncle Adam had just returned from Germany and brought us all back a present!

Look at our cool marionettes!

PawPaw and Papa spent some quality time together.

Everyone was abuzz about the birth of our newest cousin, Hudson, on July 1.  (More on that to come.)  The girls set up their own nursery on the porch.  Mostly, the care of the babies involved tucking them in and giving them kisses.

June, Sadie and Henry spent hours out in the yard building fairy houses.  It went well until we discovered they pulled all of the tiny green tomatoes off of Grams' plants.

While the big kids were reeking havoc in Grams' garden, the little ones were singing songs with Grams.  

And making goofy faces.

For July 4th, we headed into Columbus to see the big fireworks display shot off from the minor league baseball field. 

We got there early and spent the evening having some good, sweaty fun.

How's about a ride, Pawps?

As the sun went down, we all rocked out to the sounds of "Phil Dirt and the Dozers."

The fireworks were great!

The only downside was that the traffic control wasn't great and we got stuck in our parking garage for the next 3 hours.  Georgie and Henry sat still in our hot car and June laid on the floor and fell asleep.  

At Uncle Adam and Aunt Katie's house, we tried out sparklers for the first time.

The kids did well and no one lost a finger.

Jo and Dash got hosed down in the bathtub.

Kissing cousins!

We ended the week with a big cookout.

I don't know if PawPaw knew he was part of this squirt gun fight.

Watch out for the goof behind you, Uncle Adam!

We turned on the sprinklers and the kids had a good time.

Especially when they came up with a great way to wash the grass off their feet.