We made it!!! We had a blast at the beach and to be back together with my true friends was indescribable! I am so blessed that God put these girls in my life over 10 years ago. He definitely knew what He was doing!
We had a blast just as a family for the first few days. Our first family vacation was definitely memorable! We were all in one hotel room for the first few days so that made for some early nights for me & Ryan since the kids could see us from their orphanage type metal bar cribs.
We had a blast just as a family for the first few days. Our first family vacation was definitely memorable! We were all in one hotel room for the first few days so that made for some early nights for me & Ryan since the kids could see us from their orphanage type metal bar cribs.
The kids LOVED the beach. Elliot had a rough transition in the beginning (not sleeping well the first night, hating the beach the first day etc...) but once she got readjusted with her new surroundings, she fell in love with the beach! Keaton was hands on first thing. He immediately loved the sand. They both got to where their favorite thing was sitting at the waters edge and playing in the wet sand and giggling when the waves would wash up over their feet. As you can see from the slide show below, both kids realized they could lay down and cover their entire bodies in sand! Ever tried to get sand off and out of every crevice of not one but two 10 month olds? I am sure there is an extra jewel in our crowns after that task!
After our few days of family time, we drove down to Seagrove and met up with all our friends. Here is the breakdown of families (with maiden names for all you Harding folks)...
Tracy, Amy (Machen), Griffin, Sophie & Lainie Childers
Brian, Jenn (Land), Wilson, Davis & Mary Ellis
Dru, Heather (Robertson), Archer & Wylie Montgomery
Josh, Wendy (Savage), Parker, Dawson & Maren Bowling
Kelly, Becky (Canter) & Jett Monahan
Brandon, Ferne (Howe), Evie & Samuel Keown
Yep...14 adults & 16 children (ages 7 & under)! Who ever knew we would procreate like this? To all our delight, the kids were all wonderful and have made some new friends that they will hopefully be close to for years to come. Us girls got to go out to dinner one night and the guys were able to go out the next. The night the guys went to dinner we invited all kids to our house. Wow....what a moment! Becky commented that our house looked like we had had a frat party after everyone left. Pringles, popcorn & Cheerios covered every inch of our floor...but we loved every minute of it! Somehow Elliot & Samuel slept through the chaos but Keaton was just too curious as to what all the noise was.
It was a little hard to visit with someone chasing a kid or yelling "No...NO!" every two seconds but the main thing is we were all together again and hopefully we made some good memories for the kids.
Will we do it again...DEFINITELY! Will we do it every year with all the kids...we'll probably try to bring the kids along every other year. It was a blast but hard work at the same time. I wish I had a picture off all of us carrying all of our gear to the beach each day! We ran off a few families out of shear fear I am afraid!
I will post an update with pics from the other families when I get a chance. Therm also put together a great video of the kids that I will try to figure out how to post on here.
Until then, enjoy the slide show below!
After our few days of family time, we drove down to Seagrove and met up with all our friends. Here is the breakdown of families (with maiden names for all you Harding folks)...
Tracy, Amy (Machen), Griffin, Sophie & Lainie Childers
Brian, Jenn (Land), Wilson, Davis & Mary Ellis
Dru, Heather (Robertson), Archer & Wylie Montgomery
Josh, Wendy (Savage), Parker, Dawson & Maren Bowling
Kelly, Becky (Canter) & Jett Monahan
Brandon, Ferne (Howe), Evie & Samuel Keown
Yep...14 adults & 16 children (ages 7 & under)! Who ever knew we would procreate like this? To all our delight, the kids were all wonderful and have made some new friends that they will hopefully be close to for years to come. Us girls got to go out to dinner one night and the guys were able to go out the next. The night the guys went to dinner we invited all kids to our house. Wow....what a moment! Becky commented that our house looked like we had had a frat party after everyone left. Pringles, popcorn & Cheerios covered every inch of our floor...but we loved every minute of it! Somehow Elliot & Samuel slept through the chaos but Keaton was just too curious as to what all the noise was.
It was a little hard to visit with someone chasing a kid or yelling "No...NO!" every two seconds but the main thing is we were all together again and hopefully we made some good memories for the kids.
Will we do it again...DEFINITELY! Will we do it every year with all the kids...we'll probably try to bring the kids along every other year. It was a blast but hard work at the same time. I wish I had a picture off all of us carrying all of our gear to the beach each day! We ran off a few families out of shear fear I am afraid!
I will post an update with pics from the other families when I get a chance. Therm also put together a great video of the kids that I will try to figure out how to post on here.
Until then, enjoy the slide show below!
2 comments:
LOVE all of your pictures, esp the sand in face ones. So glad you had fun and good weather. Looks like it was a blast!
Looks like fun and you are SO making me itch for a family beach vacation.
Be sure to go check my blog. I tagged you. Sorry. ;)
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