vacation

well after about 700 + pictures i think we narrowed it down to the following…

i don’t even know how to describe this past week.  we looked forward to it for so long.  so much anticipation of our whole family squeezed in a beach house for a solid week.  it was perfect.

samuel you ate lots of sand.  slept  a l o t  of the time due to so much activity going on around you as well as your  f o u r  top teeth coming in.   jack you had a blast the first day out in the sand.   you also enjoyed finding shells and putting them in buckets.  i loved seeing all of my siblings,    a l l   at the same time!

i was also so happy that my aunt and two of my cousins were able to make it as well!  it was so perfect!

 

from the baby girl of the family to the big girls ….  there were nothing but smiles!

 the lifeguards 😛

almost every evening we had game night for both the adults and the kids, there were such great laughs in this house.

 

 and in the “later” evenings, we siblings got to have some great quality time together.

every morning the sun seemed brighter and brighter,  it woke up the babies, the kids, and then all that noise woke up us parents 🙂   gramps would make eggs, we’d have some coffee and laugh about the night before, then it was time to lather up and head out to the beach!

 

kindle and i couldn’t get enough pictures.  it was so addicting with the adorable kids and the beautiful setting.   i’m still waiting for her to send some over 😛

oh samuel,  this was probably your only time out near the water.  daddy came in the night before.  you were so happy to see him that morning.   you two share something special.  i knew i had to get these pictures of your almost not so gummy smile anymore.

the two things we always say about you.

that hair!

those eyes!

 your favorite part of each day besides being held by me,  or your teething tablets from kindle…  the kitchen sink baths.

ohh my emma boo.  you and granny have some good stories.  i wont share on here. 🙂   let’s just say we had some great times!

my little man jack.  this was probably the last chance you gave the beach.   you really did love it.  and you loved spending time with your cousins on the beach too,  especially miss sydney and her musicals.

but after a few morning visits from the blue angels,  you were petrified of seeing or hearing a plane outside.  we couldn’t get you outside for anything.   joshua was your little protector, at one point i tried to get you to come out onto the balcony, when i opened the door joshua ran to me and said…

“no no don’t let jat come outide!  there is a TITE  wif an AIRPLANE on it!”

oh. my.

we got a kick out of sydney.  she is always in her own princess world.  one morning i noticed she was out playing with uncle mike.   it might have been the cutest thing i had ever seen…

 i have to say having tween and teen nieces and nephews is almost more fun than the babies.  they were so much fun to hang out with and always so so helpful with our babies!!  i love them.  the despicable me minions were the theme of the week.  the littlest ones were known to get a hold of every phone and/or ipad that gramps and granny would let them have to play minion rush. so we had our own game going with the teens called “hide the minion”  we had two mcdonalds minion characters that would be hidden in random spots of the house to make you laugh.  if you found it you would hide it some where else.

these boys…

after many more attempts out to the beach, jack  still wouldn’t budge.  my poor baby decided to just catch up on his sleep.

 oh my. jack.  i love you so much.

cousin jude was entertainment for all.  he’s all smiles and giggles but can sure stand his ground.  it was so funny to watch his every move.   samuel this was one of your very few chances not in my arms.  you couldn’t see me, so you were okay.  🙂

another memorable night,  our girls in the family started a tradition at christmas to clap after each gift that is opened.  they decided to take it to the beach with an extra loud applause to anyone who walked out to the balcony one night after dinner.  they sure had a good laugh when granny surprised them with a grand entrance…

on our last evening with chad and mendy,  we celebrated with fireworks and made sure to get our pictures together with our cousins…

and just us  f i v e.

jack watched from inside of course.

{another favorite picture that tells us about his week, indoors and perfectly happy.}

another night of surprises.  granny found all the girls in her bed, while we watched the lightning show over the ocean…  it was so gorgeous.

this balcony held some great memories from beginning to end.  we really did share some good times.  we laughed, we cried and then we laughed some more 🙂  there is nothing like family, and this week i realized there is nothing like my family and i am so blessed to be apart of it.  we are all blessed.  i hope it doesn’t take too long before we get to do something like this again.  but from now until then, i hope to create more memories for my own little family.  because that’s where it all begins.

xxoo