Beach Games

I love, love, love to play games. Board games, card games any kind of games (except those which require a physical talent or coordination, which I sorely lack) So when our family gets together, I usually demand, ask everyone to play a family game at least once. This year they humored me and we played girls vs boys in "Family Feud".

Everyone, from the oldest, (my Dad), to the youngest, (Elijah), played. It was a lot of fun, especially since the girls won! There were lots of laughs and, surprisingly, very few arguments. I think it's safe to say they can endure, look forward to another round next year!

The night before, we enjoyed another family beach tradition.  We played "Putt-Putt". Because this game requires some of the aforementioned physical skills, I chose to be the photographer for the evening. Leaving the knocking of the little white ball, (or blue ball or red ball...), to the rest of my crew.

Daddy teaching Elijah

Nana aiming

After seeing Beth get that hole in one, Abbey studies Beth for pointers.

Daniel is close...

And it's Super-Mom! Putt-putting with baby in tow!

Grandaddy enjoys being with all the kids!

After the game, comes the part that I like.... Ice Cream!!

Layne anticipating....

Ummm, got it!

Daddy let Daniel and Abbey play their first arcade game.

Ahhh, such sweet memories!


***Post-note I got a text tonight from Daniel asking me if I noticed a typo on my latest blog post. I looked twice, had John, Sr look twice and still didn't get it.  The fact is Daniel has played arcade games many times in the past 19 years. It was obviously Elijah's first experience.  Just checking to make sure you're reading there, Daniel! (Yeah, that's my story...) end of post note***

John, Jr.s Birthday

It's somewhat strange to notice one day that your little boy isn't so little anymore. You so easily remember him looking like this

or even like this

but you can't for the life of you get a grip on when the years flew by and he began to look like this ~

and then to realize he's celebrating his 26th birthday??  The confusion is compounded by the fact that you still feel like you're 29! Well, maybe 35, but not a day older!

We got to celebrate John's birthday at his favorite place in the world--the beach!

Sharon brought him presents from her...

This one was my favorite. Can you guess what this is??

Why, parasailing, of course. Get it?? A sail boat on a pear! So creative! They are going to go parasailing.

We went out to eat at Provision and had a great time. We had a strange encounter there.  The restaurant  had a man there playing the guitar and singing. John, Sr and Elijah were watching him while we waited to be seated. He looked at Elijah and said, "I remember you from last year. Is your sister here with you?" I thought it was quite interesting that he remembered Elijah from a year ago?? We did recall being there a year ago and watching him sing.

After dinner, we had cake and ice cream.

Layne tested Mimi's chocolate cake.

and declared it pretty doggone good! (yup, the grandbaby doesn't fall far from the grandma)

Happy Birthday to my oldest boy! We love you more than you'll ever know!

2013 Beach Memories~ Part 1-Being together

 Again, this year our entire family,(minus Anna's husband, Jamie), went to Holden Beach for a week. It was a wonderful time for us all. I took a lot of pictures to make sure we remember our time together, so I'll be posting about the beach for the next few posts.


The first group of pictures are about the best part of all....just being together!

Layne got a lot of attention.

Whether she was playing with Elijah,

 getting to know John Jr,

 supporting John and Daniel's college,

 getting loved on by Papa,

 coordinating fashion with Sharon,

 helping Beth and Greg get a feel for their impending parenthood,

 or just loving on her Mama, this little one stole everyone's hearts.

 Other members of the family strengthened their bonds. Both Abbey and Elijah had powerfully missed big brother Daniel, since he left for school.

She even misses his teasing her. (She was trying to ignore him here)

This little boy absolutely thinks the sun rises and sets with his big brother!

Both of the kids love being able to see Beth and Greg

We shared many great moments playing in the pool

Grandma (John's Mom) joined us the first part of the week. My parents came the last part of the week.

Lots of porch discussions...

And time for John and I to reflect on how incredibly blessed we are!!

(Anna took this, unbeknownst to us)

I wish

I could bring them all home, but I can't!

 But I can do something, and so can you...

Abbey gets two holes in her head.

For the past several years, Abbey has wanted to get her ears pierced. Knowing that we made the older girls wait until they were teens, we told her she had to get her older sisters' permissions in order to get holes in her ears any time in the near future. Beth and Anna gave their blessings, and Abbey chose her 7th birthday to undergo the puncturing. I thought for sure she would decide not to go through it, but she didn't even waver.

Before she had holes in her ears...

Anna and Layne went with us.

Elijah wasn't so sure about this piercing business. He was just along for the promised Ice Dream from Chick-Fil-A!

Picking out just the right pair.

Getting prepped

Luckily, they had two people to do it at the same time.

Ta-Da!!

Elijah's treat

Beautiful, with or with out earrings!