Free fun from the weekend.

"I want to play with my cousin!"

"Ummm, Leilani?"

"NO!"

"Ummm, which cousin do you want to play with?"

"MY COUSIN!"

"Ummm, Gabe?"

"Yes! He bumped me! I want to play with my cousin!"

When we moved into the WJ rental, Kev's brother Darin came over one night and helped with a lot of stuff. He brought Gabe, who's a big-kid and he helped bring boxes in. At one point, Aspen and Gabe were exiting and entering the house at the exact same moment, and neither one of them saw the other. They plowed right into each other and I think Aspen got stepped on and from that point, Gabe became the-cousin-who-bumped-me.

Friday night, Aspen decided she wanted to see him again (and his little sisters). So Kev talked to Darin and we arranged to meet on Saturday at the Castle Park (City Park) by the WJ Library for playing and a picnic.

We got more than we bargained for because it was the day of the car show, and since all proceeds from the show benefited a children's organization, a lot of people donated their time to offer free events for kids within the park.

Aspen got her face painted for the first time, and she played a bean bag game to win some goodies. We also got a big snow cone to share (YEA!! A frozen treat mama can eat!!) in the shade of a big tree.

My sister-in-law, Anna, and I were able to sit and talk talk talk while the kids played and the Taylor brothers walked the car show. It turned out to be an even better day than I could have hoped for us. I always worry that when Kev is actually home (because he's on-call and can't go to Ogden for the weekend) that he'll be busy with work stuff. So when he's free to spend time with us, I treasure it. We drove separately in case he got called in to work (he ended up going in at 6 and got home at 1am), and I almost cried looking at him and Aspen driving together. She was waving her little hands around in the back seat, and I could just barely see them in my rear view mirror as I led the way to the park. I also really enjoyed driving with my windows down, listening to anything but Caillou playing on the iPod. THANK HEAVEN.

Another free event was what can only be described as a stuffed animal buffet. There was a designated area in the park where the kids would wander and pick out a toy. Naturally, Aspen picked up a puppy and named him Spots (this is going to get confusing!). He's an old-school Pound Puppy and I'm thrilled because I had about a million of those growing up. She could not be persuaded to even look at another animal once she found the dog. She was so happy.

It was so wonderful to catch up with Kev's brother and his family and to spend time together outside before school starts for their kids. Summer is always busy for them, so with the new school year, hopefully we'll be able to get together more often.

And maybe Gabe can earn himself and new nickname.