Why the beach?

The past two years, our vacation has been spent at the beach. It's been a wonderful thing, but not exactly what I would have chosen. I'd have chosen to go somewhere where I can stay in an hotel, eat out every meal, have maid service, see things I've never seen, not have to deal with sand and underwater animals that I can't see and did I mention Maid Service??  But, we've chosen to go to the beach, and I'm ok with that.

I'm ok with that because every single person in my family loves the beach. It's a place that makes them all happy, and that makes me happy. My big kids and my little kids can play together.

We can fly a kite with ease.

We can have intimate conversations. Conversations that probably wouldn't happen in any other atmosphere.

Where else can a husband display his love for his pregnant wife by digging her a "belly hole" so she can lay on her tummy?

These three are definitely in their "happy place" at the beach!

Beach time allows us to indoctrinate the next generation.

I'm also more than ok with our vacation choice because,  I do love the beauty displayed at the beach! I love to go out into the night and see the stars, that I can't see at home, and the moon~ oh my! The moon reflected on the ocean is beyond beautiful.

The sun setting in the evening whispers to me that God is an artist like no other. The colors of the sunset are incredible!

Our friends allow us to rent their fantastic home, which is big enough for our whole family, and surrounded by natural beauty. As we were sitting on the deck one night, we had the joy to watch a baby and mommy deer feeding on the brush beside our walkway to the beach.

These natural wonders never cease to cause me to praise the creator of it all!

I would never be able to see those sights, or experience that type of family bonding at a Holiday Inn, so I'm very ok with going to the beach for our vacation!

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)