+3 Chitlins!

At the end of August, Kyler and I got the opportunity to spend a week and a half as parents of four while Kyler's sister and brother-in-law went backpacking. Transitioning from one child to four, overnight, is quite the experience. We had Calista, obviously, Katelyn, who's three, Paige, who's five, and Brooklyn, who's nine.
Honestly, the girls were as good as we could have possibly expected. There were some squabbles, but that's to be expected. No one ended up in the ER, no one did permanent damage to the house, and Kyler's back seems to have healed nicely...

Calista loved having three older kids to play with, and they loved having her. I have several dozen pictures of Calista on my camera that one of the three took. Paige, in particular, would take a picture of her and then say, "She's so cute!" over and over and over again.

The first morning, they took Calista on a blanket ride through the kitchen,

She loved it.

Two examples of picture by Paige

Who needs all of Kyler's head in the frame? Calista's the important one.

We rode our bikes to the park.

 Brooklyn climbed all over everything.

 Katelyn climbed up the slide,

 and then went down it with Paige.

Paige also enjoyed swinging.

 And Calista...

ate rocks.

 Yum.

We played Twister and told the girls about the Calgary Temple Open House for FHE.

Kyler and Brooklyn all twisted up.
Calista just liked the feel for the rug.

Kyler and I have been thinking about getting her something for her room, since she liked this one so much.

We jumped on the trampoline a lot. Calista loved when we let her on, but we didn't let her jump too often.

How does this thing work?

She was fascinated by the springs.

And Paige.

Fuzz head, trampoline-style!

Disadvantage to lots of trampoline access? Kyler was a silly boy and, when Brooklyn asked him to jump with her like he jumps with Calista, carrying her, Kyler actually tried to do it... and then his back hurt for the next few days. Lesson learned, though, I think... a 9-year-old weighs more than a 1-year-old.

Wet fun on the trampoline!

(No Calista allowed!)

Katelyn wasn't into the wet trampoline, either. The pool/slide (and garden) was her thing.

Seeing Calista this week, I wish we had a big window she could look out of.

It would make her so happy.

I also wish she could be with her cousins (all of them!) more often.

Then they could dance whenever they wanted and have a grand old time.

At least she and I can have dance parties on our own (and do! Friday was Abba's Change Your Mind!).

More pictures by the girls...

Peekaboo!

Enchilada face!

As always, Calista was quite the helpful child.

Thanks for rearranging the pantry, babe!

My favorite part of the week was just spending time with the girls. They were so much fun. For example, Brooklyn was looking at my cookbook and asked, "Did you make up any of these recipes, or are they from books?" When I told her I hadn't invented any of them but borrowed them, she said, "Let's make up a recipe!" So, we did. We made Secret Double (Triple?) Chocolate Cookies.

The girls all helped put ingredients in.

Except Calista. She just looked cute until she started trying to get into things, and then Kyler took her away.

Mesmerized by the mixer.

Smile for the camera, ladies!

Kyler and I learned some important lessons this week, and had a lot of fun. And if anyone wants the Secret Zemp Family Double (Triple?) Chocolate Cookie Recipe, let me know.