A few months back, someone threw out the idea of doing a family beach weekend with our friends and everyone's kids. We thought it was a brilliant idea: rent a big house on the beach and cram eight families in there, with 16 adults and 12 kids. Clearly we were drunk when we came up with this idea.
Well, low and behold, Memorial Day rolls around and we all cart our families (and the ridiculous amount of STUFF they require) over to Isle of Palms, SC for a long weekend. And wouldn't you know it....we had a blast! (of course, we also had plenty of alcohol)
It was definitely chaos, but controlled, fun chaos. It worked out astonishingly well and we can't wait to do it again next year! The house was perfect and literally ON the beach (much thanks to Jessica for arranging it) and the weekend was full of tons of sun, sand, good food, and great friends. Amazingly the kids all went to sleep at night and sometimes they even napped!
This was EJ's first time at the beach, and from the moment she saw it, she loved it. She also bolted directly into the ocean.
Daddy showed her the ropes.
Beach babies!
Matteson (9mo), Hadley & Addison (3years), and EJ (18mo)
The kids all spent the days out on the beach, swimming, splashing, digging, running, and in general just having a blast. It is a bit nerve-wracking trying to make sure your child is safe around large bodies of water, but you know the saying 'It takes a village to raise a child'....that is pretty much how we operated. Everyone kept their eyes on all the kids and made sure no one got into too much trouble.
EJ and Olivia play in the sand.
My beach baby.
Admiring the view.
Sarah and Anna
Throughout the weekend, Anna & EJ (who are almost the same age, EJ is about 2.5 months older) had a battle of wills over several items. They also had a lot of fun playing together, but this picture shows the culmination of The Great Wagon Standoff of 2012.
Daddy helped show EJ how to build sandcastles!
One afternoon we took the kids down the road to the ice cream shop. Matteson and EJ had the privileged of riding in the wagon while us lesser beings walked.
Even when they weren't out on the beach enjoying the sun & sand, the kids had a blast together. To be honest, even though it was chaos, it was great to have so many kids there since they were all able to play together and seemed to really enjoy being together. These are some good shots that exemplify both the chaos and the fun.
EJ tries to impress Vince with her bucket face.
Anna & EJ battle over the car keys.
Vince & EJ plotting some kind of trouble to get into.
Matteson and EJ confer on their own trouble-making plans.
A great shot of most (but not all!) of the group.
We were also able to get a few good family pictures!
Before dinner out Sunday night. Thanks Aunt Merrill for her absolutely adorable dress!
So, long story short: it was a rousing success and we are really excited to do it again next year!
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