The cousins we never met and didn't know we had

When we explained to the kids that we were going to go to Phoenix and meet some relatives that they had not met, Maddy kept calling them "the cousins we never met" even after the trip!

Matt's mom, Charla's family lives in Phoenix and since it's only 3 hours away, we decided to take a trip up there to visit. Whew! 6 hours of driving was rough. Next time we will have to stay overnight!

Both kids had a hard time with the concept of cousins that were older than them. They are technically Matt's cousins, so most of them are older. They also had a hard time with "aunt Launna" and "uncle Mark". The rest of their aunts and uncles are in the 20-40 age range, so hearing Matt call Launna "aunt" was confusing. We finally decided to go with "Aunt Grandma and Uncle Grandpa". I think Maddy actually came up with the idea and Connor was more than happy to go along with it!

Here are a few snapshots. I forgot to take more pictures!

Uncle Grandpa Mark


Dana and Matt's Grandpa Fuge


Connor and his Great Grandpa.


stupid cheap camera.


Later on the trip we met with some Texas friends who moved to Phoenix....Juliet's kids, Sophia and Jerrith were constantly playing at my house...when my kids were not at her place!

We went to the Phoenix Science Center. A lot of the exhibits were closed but we still had a lot of fun!
Maddy and Aunt Grandma with Cousin Angela


Connor on a bed of nails!




My kids do NOT like loud sounds or scary movies. One exhibit demonstrated different weather patterns around the world. The heat lamps came on for the desert and the floor shook for earthquakes. Monsoons had huge fans that blew wind and rain and LOUD thunderclaps. Maddy loved it EXCEPT for that part....so Connor bravely protected her!