It's Miller Time

No, not the beer, although my boys' constant fighting just might drive me to drink . . . I'm talking about the Miller kids, who are out visiting their dad's family for the summer. Stephen and I are lucky enough to live a few miles from their grandma, so we've been able to spend some time with them. I think each of them has slept on our living room couch for at least a night or two, if not several more. The boys would wake up every morning asking, "Who's on the couch today, Mommy?" and before you know it, Eli is out there lifting up poor Maina's eyelids to determine if she's awake, or Bennett's asking Kaelan or Kati to play Sorry with him. All three of our kids have loved having their older cousins around for so much this summer.

Watch out for the tweens and teens! There was quite a crew gathered at Grammy Miller's pool when the Jorys and Millers gathered to swim and barbecue. Let me list them by age, so you can feel a little, or a lot, of sympathy for the adults hanging out with these kids:

Brett, 17
Shemaina, 16
Kaelan, 15
Kiersten, 13
Ashley, 13
Haley, 13
Kati, 12
Solana, 9
Kendra, 9

Good grief, I get tired just listing all of them. Now imagine them dunking, scratching, chasing, splashing and generally harrassing each other in a backyard pool. Craziness. Good craziness, however. There's nothing like all that teenage energy to distract and entertain, and let's face it, it's fun seeing all of them have such a good time together. Uncle Don grilled up 'da meat and busted out some deeeee-licious, homemade mango ice cream which we all greedily gobbled up. The motley crew were then off to the drive-in for a double-feature, while Connie came home to hang with us boring folk who had to get our little lambs to bed before midnight.

Eli enjoying some mango goodness

Solana doing the same

Stephen, Connie and Millie relaxing poolside

Eli and his buddy/punching bag, cousin Maina

Kendra and Benito gettin' their swim on

Kaelan taking a break from the chaos