Team Cohen: July Part 2 - CNZ in Driftwood

Camp was cancelled. International travel was cancelled. All in-person playdates were cancelled. Aunt Sandi's work as a pediatrician was NOT cancelled. Summer and Texas heat were NOT cancelled. Enter Camp Nana/Zayde ("CNZ"), a place where cousins can be cousins, pool splashing happens daily, and Aunt Sandi's children and Cohen children and Gilden children can still get some summer fun in a socially isolated, semi-responsible, hopefully safe and healthy way. For over TWO weeks.

We all moved in together to the Driftwood compound. We ate well. Full-time working adults joined us as they could, and the rest of the adults managed the village cooperatively. Here is what it looked like.

Team Cohen arrived first on a Friday afternoon. We had the pool and Nana and Zayde all to ourselves. The house wouldn't be that quiet again for the next 17 days, and we certainly enjoyed the attention as well! (Pay attention to the Nana-Spencer love affair this particular afternoon.)

seems safe

By the end of Day 1, Team Cohan arrived. Bros were united. We were ready to tackle the chaos.

Day 2 of 17, not sick of the pool yet:

Piling many children on the watermelon is certainly a fun challenge.

She saw me taking pictures, so she jumped and posed.

first time EVER using Zayde's bathtub - SUPER excited

End of Day 2, and Jacob (with broken wrist) needed a bath. The small cousins who were once bathed by Jacob as babies now returned the favor and took care of him.

Day 3, Gildens arrived, and yes - pool.

Blog stalkers rejoice! The toddler show was alive and well!

Aunt Syssa's birthday was in 4 days. But her oldest sister was leaving in 4 hours. Enter surprise ice cream cake!

Happy [early] Birthday, Aunt Syssa!!!

Party over. Back to pool.

A family who crowds in the pool together...?

The Toddler Show continued with jumps into the pool. Spencer became a wild man after that day, needing repeated reminders to make sure the catching adult was ready before hurling his swimless body towards the water.

It took a village:

how Aunt Sandi babysits 6 kids (#pjlibrary)

how Aunt Debbie babysits 6 kids (#frozen)

Day 4 of 17: Jon gone. Sandi gone. Craig working. Nana used to tell people not to stand on the back ledge of the pool. COVID changes people.

Day 5: the ONE AND ONLY day NO ONE in CNZ went in the pool. BUT we did do tummy time with baby Micah and 7 other children (and a dog) while coloring on his mat.

Pool-less day continued outside. Coloring with chalk inspired Jacob to go get tape which inspired Aunt Debbie with creative design. 6 children worked very cooperatively together on the artistic masterpiece.

revealing the completed piece

Artsy fun continued in the afternoon with lots of crafts and kits that Nana had at the house ready to go!

Day 6's pictures began with some sweet moments between Gabi and baby Micah.

Next up: Special Mommy-Ethan walk just the two of us

Yes, of course, we were back in the pool that day. Yes, water squirters are hilarious whether squirting others or yourself.

Yes, an aunt takes pictures of the 13-year-old who at that moment decided she didn't want to be in pictures.

And yes, we ended the pool time with a whole bunch of adorable burritos.

And yes, we ended the day as all days should end - with Debbie snuggles.

Day 7 - July 23rd - Aunt Syssa's Birthday - We'll get to that later. What was more pressing was moving the minivan over in the driveway to make space for Jon's car coming back. And so, 5 kids and I piled into the front of "Bluebell" with no shoes and no seat-belts because that seemed like the reasonably safe way to accomplish that task.

"They" say you should bathe babies every now and then. I think the same "they" say it can be less often for a 3rd kid. Nevertheless, Micah had some helpers clean him sometimes.

I didn't know ABCs could sound this different
for different kids, but we went with the flow.

After a 5-day work week in Austin, Jon returned to excited kids and wet hugs.

even Knox knew something exciting was happening

Another day, another pool party!

The scene: It's time to leave the pool. The only people left refusing to listen are the two worst swimmers. You're the authority figure charged with keeping them safe. Do you sternly remind them of your expectations? Or do you get out the camera and photograph the love affair? Toddler Show continued-

That afternoon, we learned the following: (1) Don't let Ethan have a front-facing camera. (2) Don't let Uncle Jon have a front-facing camera.

One day, I, the mom, will want to watch
this video to laugh at how strange my
child "was." I am confident you don't
have that interest right now.

What does one do with extra materials from sugary edible American flags from earlier in the month? Bring them on vacation, of course! What if we were about to have a sugary dessert birthday party? No problem! It's vacation.

Sugary treats continued with fresh rainbow cupcakes. Happy Birthday, Aunt Syssa!!!

Day 8 started the way many Blursdays do at Driftwood:

It turns out you shouldn't give anyone in our family a front-facing camera...(or let Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jon be in charge of baby Micah for any extended period of time)

(And also, don't let me be
in charge of Mira either.)

Day 8 concluded with a sunset swim to help welcome Shabbat beautifully!

men

ladies

Day 9 - Shabbat Morning - Mira had volunteered to read Torah virtually as did Aunt Sandi. And they had a cheering support team ready and watching!

Ethan sneaked in the room with the Zoom camera. Seemed like it went well.

More Day 9 included Ethan wanting a picture of his fruit salad and me wanting a picture of children watching the rain.

Day 10 of 17 - Morning Snuggles - Note how Ethan and Joey extended loving cuddles to multiple adults.

Vacation and kids called for more baking! Day 10 called for homemade soft pretzels. Good thing Nana and Zayde designed a HUGE kitchen island.

Food coloring definitely enhanced the creative process.

Spencer and Ethan showed off their huge hearts, and Shayna's dragon was even too big for a single plate.

When Jon went for a bike ride that afternoon, he made some new friends:

Knox and I thought we were pretty cool too.

We went in the pool in the afternoon that day. What do you do with these two? The Toddler Show, episode 87:

At the end of the day:

Knox found some some friends on our walk.

Tooth #6 came out, and we got to test
the presence of a Driftwood Tooth Fairy.

Knox vs. Deer (She just wanted to play.)

Day 11, and not only were we not tired of the pool, but we had a pretty epic pool party!

a 2-minute ease into the fun

7 minutes full of fun; worth it

when grandparent attempts at a sandwich kiss goes wrong

Those Cohan kids were REALLY missing their mother...

Day 12 of 17, but who's counting? We had gotten into the habit of having snack each day when our sunscreen was settling in. We had also gotten into the habit of eating treats. When they two aligned perfectly, it was a good day!

buddy swim

cooperative group swim lesson to
help Spencer learn "choo choo hands"

Afternoon love fest:

Jacob, Shayna, Ethan

Joey, Gabi

Also on vacation - January 28, 2020 - Gabriella Daphna turned 7.5 years old!

For the half-birthday party, we shaped, baked, iced, and ate sugar cookies!

What to do with the extra icing? No problem! (We even brought snack to Uncle Craig at work.)

Since it was a party day, we watched part of a movie before dinner. The toddlers didn't want to watch. They wanted to build a train track. Then, they still didn't want to watch. They wanted to color.

Mira and Jacob earned their keep some of the time:

The half-birthday girl just couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. So she needed to tell me all about it. At 10:30 at night.

Day 13 - A new pastime was introduced:

Obsessive picture-taking-momma saw her American burrito of a son and made him pose. Obsessive picture-posing son saw momma taking picture of brother and made himself pose. Then, of course, they needed to pose together. I've created monsters.

If kids go outside to walk a dog, and there are puddles, is it required to stay focused and walk the dog??

These could have been taken just about any night:

Day 14's pictures:

Day 15 of 17 - Sure, it was the end of July in central Texas. And sure, that called for chocolate mint candy canes dipped in hot chocolate. Why not?

Aunt Sandi came back!!! It was a pretty close tie between who was most excited - kids or dog. Probably dog.

Day 16, and we were still splashing. Uncle Jon was back again and apparently making up for lost time:

Watch him fly.

Seems safe.

We brought out the sparklers on our last night together. Spencer, who had previously been terrified of anything sparkler related, LOVED them!

Day 17 - We made it! To start, Jacob and Knox took the toddlers on a special walk.

To enhance our vacation, Aunt Syssa provided all the materials for some really special crayon art. Each person chose a design, and crayons were melted around painters' tape to later reveal beautiful masterpieces! We captured a picture of the unique beauty before we all took them home: