Team Cohen: July 2023

Our July saw several iterations with Team Cohen. We began July returning to the country from a fabulous excursion to Cancun with the extended Kaye family. You can take the folks out of vacation, but you can't take the vacation (or the sugar intake or the family togetherness) out of the folks.

While on vacation, we cheered on the Gator baseball team that got extremely close to the national title. After returning home, Ethan was still showing his support and proud of the 2nd place trophy.

We packed up kid #1 for sleepaway camp. Big Ethan was excited about his 3rd summer at Camp Young Judaea Texas.

Ethan specifically requested nachos for one of his last home meals.

Two thirds of Team Cohan joined Central Texas on their way to CYJ as well. On a hot Saturday afternoon, we went swimming in Barton Springs pool.

The night before camp, the Mommies and CYJ boys had one last adventure at the Round Rock Express game.

One kid down! Ethan was off for 3.5 weeks of CYJ fun...

...Which left us with these two:

Gone, but not forgotten - Gabi and Spencer took turns sleeping in Ethan's bed because they missed him (so they claimed).

We took advantage of 7/11 Free Slurpee Day!

For fun, Mommy made "Gator challah" for Shabbat dinner. The Gator colors added spirit, for sure.

Just like Ethan had, Gabi got to choose her last meal before being shipped off to overnight camp.

Another kid down! Gabi was off to enjoy a week at Twin Lakes Overnight Camp.

One kid remained. He was coronated King of the Cohen Castle and got as much attention as his heart desired. He slept where he wanted, ate what he wanted, and pretty much did whatever he wanted. Rinse and repeat.

took over Gabi's bed as soon as it was vacant

gotta earn his keep somehow

King of the Castle made sure everyone was under his authority.

so much special attention!

He ate what he wanted; he drank what he wanted.

Shabbat dinner of champions: challah, honey, and sprinkles with a side of Sprite straight from the bottle

Spencer made an actual checklist of special things he wanted to do while he was King of the Castle, and we worked through accomplishing every single one. Here are Mommy and Spence at Urban Air:

(My favorite part was taking the video AND pelting him with dodgeballs at the same time.)

Living his best life:

breakfast with Daddy

new dolphin puzzle
from Grandma and Grandpa

helping feed kitties

After a week away, Gabi came home for literally only 24 hours. She spoke very positively about her week at overnight camp, and it seemed to have been a success! She was greeted excitedly by all present humans, but puppers Reggie may have been the most excited of all.

She probably spent most of her 24 hours sleeping.

With just enough time to do laundry and throw her clothes back in a suitcase, Gabi was off to her next adventure - CNZ (Camp Nana/Zayde) in Atlanta. She flew alone for the first time ever as an unaccompanied minor. Daddy and Gabi showed up at the airport responsibly early and then learned of the THREE (!!!) hour delay on her flight.

Gabgirl got quite tired of all the waiting. Luckily, she remembered Mommy's made-up "3-hour airport rule," aka "If you're at the airport for more than 3 hours, you get ice cream!"

Finally, they had the right plane and the right crew, and the big girl was off!

Back at the ranch, Spencer and Mommy helped Aunt Syssa celebrate her birthday!

Back to the Spencer show as King of the Castle!

With our one-and-only Mommy-Daddy-Spencer-Day-of-Fun, we found a water obstacle course and enjoyed the adventure!

It was a lot more challenging than it seemed.

Spencer and Mommy *accidentally* slipped in the mud.

All's well that ends well.

Spencer got lots of special Gilden attention.

Mommy and Daddy got to sneak away one evening with just our two noses!

With just 1 kiddo at home, we were able to get some special things accomplished!

Almost 2 (!) years and 10,000 (!) diamonds later, I
FINALLY finished the anniversary present I gifted Jon.

Spencer achieved every single thing on his checklist
that he wanted to do while his big sibs were away. Phew!

Sad news from Team Cohen: Along with our kids dwindling this month, our 4-legged count went from 8 to 7 this month as we accidentally, yet tragically, lost one of our gerbils, Zeus. These sweet pictures taken at the beginning of July are the last we have of the three brothers.

Gerbil patrol remained dedicated to the protection of the remaining 2 guys, Apollo and Poseidon.

After Mommy left for 8 days and took a full week away from the desk, Bri was extremely relieved to be reunited.

So many animals!

AND FINALLY - After a full month of changes, all of my noses came back on August 1. While Spencer relished in his special attention, he was eager to have his playmates back!