Beach Bonanza 2012

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!

Everett meets her Soul-Sister

At the end of May, EJ and I flew to Washington DC to stay with one of my very best friends and roommates from college, Kelly.  Kelly & Dave have a daughter - Natalie - who is about 6 months older than Everett.  Since she was born, Kelly and I have traded stories that continuously end with "OMG, they are just alike!"  I miss Kelly desperately and am sad I haven't had a chance to get to know Natalie better, so I was really excited to go visit her.

EJ had her first flight!  She did great!

We should have known. From the minute they met, E and N were like two peas in a pod. Double trouble to the nth degree. (see how I threw some fancy math in there for you, Kelly?)

The girls had a blast playing together!  First, Natalie showed Everett how to climb the tree in her backyard.

Then we went to the local Mexican restaurant / sandbox (yes, you read that right)

They hugged it out.

When we left, they continued the love fest and were ridiculously cute.

Of course, then they were filthy and needed a bath. Note their expressions. A huge splash-fest took place about 4 seconds after this picture was taken.

The next day, they conspired together to convince Kelly to drag them to the park in the wagon. 

I assume it worked because they are so cute. 

EJ decided she wantd to give it a try, railroad tie be damned! 

While we were in DC we went down to Alexandria for the day to visit my step-sister Rebecca and her husband Greg.  We had a wonderful time, I was so happy to see them and their awesome new house! Plus how freaking cute is pregnant-Rebecca?  Cannot wait for EJ to have a new cousin!!!

EJ gave her "cousin" Max some love. I believe "cousin" Atticus was quivering upstairs under the bed after his world was rocked from being invaded by two crazy toddlers.

This was a fantastic visit all around!!!!  I am so thrilled to get to spend time with such amazing friends and family.  And I can't wait for EJ to spend more time with Natalie and meet her new cousin in just a few months. Hopefully E & N will not get into as much trouble in college as her mother and I did, but I do hope they are as good of friends.

I get it now

I will admit, I am really behind on my posts and have so much to update over the past month, including our fantastic beach trip, the Heithold family reunion, our visit with the Jacksons (where EJ met her soul-sister), and many more.  But as I sit watching "Duets" on ABC (yeah, that's right, don't judge), what I want to take a minute to reflect back on is something that Robin Thicke (remember what I said about not judging?) just said about his son: that nothing is more important, not his career/fame/music/the show than his son is.

I used to hear people say this all the time, and I would roll my eyes.  Of course it is the party line: Nothing is more important than my kids! but I was certain that I would have a better balance and swore that my husband, my animals, my career, my LIFE would be, if not more, then JUST AS important.

Silly me.

I get it now. And I can roll my eyes at myself as I say everything that all the moms & dads before me said, but damn if it isn't the truth: these short people that monopolize your days and bring you to the edge of frustration again and again and prevent you from having anything recognizable to your previous self as a social life....they really and truly are the bomb-diggity.  Every belly laugh, every running hug, every standing ovation they give at the end of a terrible song you have created solely for their entertainment, every MAMA yelled at the top of their lungs as they search lovingly/desperately for you.....it really IS all worth it.  And truly nothing else is as important.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I would trade in my girls nights or naptimes or trips with the hubby: let's be clear, those things keep me sane.  But I want to give a shout-out to all who have learned this lesson before I did: I get it now.  You were right.  There is nothing greater than this.  (as long as I have a bottle of Pinot Grigio chilling in the fridge....kidding, kidding!)

All my love and kisses and smothering to the most amazing short person I have ever known. I love you, EJ.  Thanks for making it all worth it.

- Mom

Mother's Day Weekend

What a weekend! I feel like I was really spoiled with great family time, plus a bit of relaxation, all weekend long. The festivities began on Friday, when we went to the zoo with some friends.  The weather was absolutely divine and EJ had a great time!  As usual, one of her favorite activities was the petting zoo. 

Everett and her very first friend, Brianna, check out the goats.  Brianna is the daughter of one of my best friends from college, Jayna.  She is about 2 months younger than Everett.

Ethan, Elliott, Everett, and Brianna all help the goats out with their grooming. 

 This sheep is really living the life. 

And of course, before we could leave, EJ had to give her favorite goat a hug goodbye.  =)

That evening, we went to our customary Friday night Westside Family Dinner with a bunch of friends and their kids.  This is Everett and one of her friends, Matteson, who is the daughter of our good friends, the Reicharts.  Everett is totally jealous of Matteson's awesome punk-rock hair.

On Saturday EJ and I took my mom to brunch to celebrate her.  We had a great time together and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful mother!  That afternoon the whole family went to Riverfest, which is a music & arts festival in the neighborhood next to us.  EJ enjoyed dancing to the music, eating funnel cake, and checking out the exhibits.

  (note the incredibly scenic backdrop....for some reason they moved the location this year to right next to an industrial plant, which made for some sweet photo-ops)

 Jamming out to the music.

 Hanging with daddy.

Happy after a fun afternoon.

Sunday morning my wonderful husband let me sleep in (heaven!) and then surprised me with beautiful flowers and sweet cards from the girls (i.e. EJ and Beyla).  Then we headed over to Stephanie's for a lovely and delish brunch with the Nadi clan.

Hanging with Cousin Noah.

Helping Cousin Dom put a puzzle together.  

 Daddy's lap is always the best place to be!

The girls!

As per usual, no Nadi get-together would be complete without some sort of competitive event. These people take their badminton seriously. 

Good thing EJ has cousins to watch out for her!

 I'm pretty sure she won the MVP award.

The absolutely beautiful flowers I got. 

Overall it was a fantastic weekend and I feel so blessed & so loved. To all the other mothers out there: Carry on warrior! And happy mother's day!  =)

Birthday Fun

Last weekend my dad and step-mother came to visit and help celebrate my birthday.  We had a lovely time with them and Everett got to spend lots of quality time with her Pop-E and Mama-J!

On Friday we went out to a nice dinner at South City Kitchen (note: they are great with kids!).  Then Saturday morning, the whole family went to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather.

EJ loves to slide and would sit down and slide all by herself, then run around and climb up the stairs to the top and do it all again!  She was not pleased when we had to leave.  =)

The two Everetts.  They had a great time together!