Beach, beach, and more beach....

I have been putting off this blog post for WAY too long. We got back from our Ft. Morgan beach trip, and we turned around and left for our St. Simons Island trip, so I never really took the time to get all of the beach pictures up here on the blog. We also had tons of other activities crammed in the past month between and after our beach trips. It's hard to believe that summer's end is approaching. The girls start back to school August 7th, and Mack returns to preschool August 16th. No one in our house (except maybe me) is excited about the new school year.

We had a great Ft. Morgan beach trip this year, complete with kayaking, ice cream truck visits, water balloons, karaoke parties, and professional pictures successfully taken on the beach, in the rain. We returned home for gymnastics camp week, acting camp, golf camp, then left again for St. Simons Island for a week. Once we got back from SSI, we had a week off of activities, but that next weekend, Worth and I were able to get away to Amelia Island to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. It was so nice, because we really haven't done anything for our anniversary since 2010 (our 5th anniversary!) It's nice to get away by yourselves and actually hold a conversation, finish a dinner, etc for more than just a couple of hours at a restaurant.

Tennis camp ensued this past week for the girls and this coming week we will take it easy before school starts back next Monday. As always, it is a whirlwind that goes by too fast. I will miss being with my babies all day, but after the whining, fussing, and fighting that has escalated over the past couple of weeks in this house, they are ready for the school year routine. I'm looking forward to posting some first day pics and stories here in a week! We have a couple of birthdays coming up as well and many fall activities planned. I have a goal for the school year to try and make a new blog post every Sunday. Hopefully, I can hold to it!

Tents going up at Ft. Morgan. This is the easiest beach trip as far as set up. We can put these huge tents up and leave them (with beach toys and chairs) all week.

Ellie and Caroline catching some rays

Emma and Worth checking out the boogie boarding potential,

This is just a shot down the beach. Where we stay, there are no high rises or hotels, just beach houses on stilts. 

Crab hunting is a huge part of our trip. This was the first night they did it. The guys and the kids all had matching t-shirts this year. 

Getting their head lamps together. 

I didn't take my good camera. This was the best night picture I could get of my group with my iPhone. 

Crab Huntin' Crew 2017

Caroline, Ellie, and Cole showing off their catch. 

Mack is still in the lead as best bed head at the beach. 

Morning laziness before hitting the beach

We had a few dance routine performed for us this year. 

Emma in her happy place. 

The first couple of days the water was really rough and there was no sandbar for these guys to swim to and hang out on so they just stood and conversed in the waves. 

Megan rented a kayak and was basically the only capable person of handling it in an ocean. So, she  very quickly became the "ride" for the week, taking kids one or two at a time out in the water. The water was rough a few of the days, so it was impressive that she kept all kids and herself in the boat. Emma was all for a kayak ride. 

I think they encountered some dolphins while out on this trip. 

Coming in for a landing

Emma LOVED it!

These two...

Sunset at Ft. Morgan is beautiful. These pictures don't do it justice. 

Emma asked me to take a picture of her "sand angels" 

Emma's completed sand angel. 

Crabs, crabs, everywhere

Working as a team to build a sandcastle

Connor could sleep anywhere. This kid cracks me up!

My two sweet princesses

Mack. Whining about something. I document this so he will believe me when he's older that this was him all of the time!

He's pretty cute though! 

Ellie, Mack, and I attempted a few sandcastles, until Mack knocked them down. 

Ellie got her turn on the kayak. 

17 KIDS!!!

The Dads

The Moms

We had to do a jump picture. It is hilarious to me that Jessica, me, and Nicole are as high up off of the ground that we can get, and Megan (whose toes are sill on the ground) is STILL taller than us. 

Mack wading in the water (and probably whining about something)

There was finally a good sandbar the last day. The guys hit it up. 

Ellie got brave enough to do some boogie boarding herself

Ellie and Will 

This was the ride home. 

They were all passed out for at least an hour on the ride home. And yes, we carry a UHAUL with us to the beach . 

Father's Day, we took it easy. Worth and Ellie played a long game of Monopoly. 

All 3 kids took gymnastics camp. This is Mack playing jump the river. 

This is Emma's jump for Jump the River. 

And this is Ellie's jump. She smoked the other kids, even beating a 13 year old who was my height. She may have a long jump career in her future. 

Emma actually did Cheernastics and she had a blast. She fell in love with cheering. 

Bed head is a serious competition in our family. This is NOT staged people. 

Ellie had her first debut on stage performing as Dorky in "Snow White and the Forgotten Dwarves" 

This was the end performance of a week long acting camp at  VSU. 

We made her costume. She found some ideas on pinterest and helped me come up with a plan. I don't sew, so we had to get creative. 

She had a couple of speaking parts and she did so good! 

Dorky the forgotten dwarf

That night, after Ellie's performance, we hit the road to SSI. This was my view  while waiting on Worth to go buy himself underwear. He was so excited about getting to the beach, he forgot to pack his drawers. 

The Summers were there this year. Emma and Walker (both middle kids) couldn't get enough of each other. 

Banks and Emma having a talk. 

Emma working on her cheer stunts with Tyson. 

Ellie and Jake (and all the other kids) were obsessed with these rocket launcher things. They lit up and were so much fun.  

Rough life. 

NOT whining. 

Emma and Walker had a blast playing with each other. 

Bo, Banks, and Mack got along good digging this hold and making a sandcastle (kind of) 

It's the 4th!

Ellie and her friend Makayla were posing for another picture when I shot this one. Such cute, sweet friends. 

Ellie and E.W. taking over the dance floor. 

Waiting for the fireworks on the beach. 

Ellie and my cousin's daughter, Zoey. That makes these sweet girls 2nd cousins. 

Anna and baby Tift with Haley and Charlotte. We cannot wait to find out what baby Tift will be  when he/she arrives on or around October 16th. 

Ellie had to show off her coffee grinder skills. 

 

The whole group waiting for fireworks. 

The kids were shooting their light up rocket launchers. 

Happy Birthday America! 

The two partners in crime; Bo and Mack. 

Treasures found walking to the sandbar. 

Emma was a little obsessed with Grey. 

Hollywood. 

...or Pirate Mack. 

We took a morning to go out shopping and pick up some souvenirs.  The kids though this shark head was great. 

I love getting pictures of the two of them from behind in front of the ocean. Precious booties. 

We attempted a family photo session, but with the wind and sun in our eyes it didn't go well.  We will have another little one to add to this group in a couple of months. 

The cousins. 

Mia, E.W., and their grands. 

Emma was beach tired. 

The low bikes are always a hit. 

Of course,  Emma is pushing Mack

When we got back from the beach, we went to go pick up Emma's glasses. She liked them at first, until it became apparent that these were a permanent deal. Now, I'm constantly having to remind her to put them on. They are just for reading and watching screens now, but she will gradually require them more as she gets olde. She got her mama's bad far sightedness. 

All the afternoon rain this summer has brought on crazy pretend play. I'm not sure who they were in this picture. They just saunter into the kitchen and tell me to take their picture. 

They did say Mack was boss baby in this picture. 

Grandma came to our house to eat and it ended up almost being a disaster. I was supposed to cook, and in the process of making tea, some spilled down into the front part of my oven. (Long story) Anyway, the oven temporarily quit working, and we had to go out to eat. We came back to our house for cake and ice cream. 

The kids made grandma a birthday crown and decorated her chair. 

We spent the weekend at Amelia Island celebrating our anniversary. Worth had a work conference at the Ritz Carlton and we just combined it with our anniversary for a nice weekend getaway. Worth had class Saturday morning, while I ate breakfast on the patio. I followed up breakfast with a massage and facial at the spa. It was so nice and relaxing. 

We even had live music at dinner Saturday night. 

Worth and his steak. 

Us at breakfast Sunday morning on our 12th wedding anniversary. Seems like yesterday that we  were honeymooning in Jamaica. 

Emma  did a STEM camp this summer. This was her "bridge" and was one of the many cool things they did in that camp. 

Ellie has had friends over a couple of times this summer. This is her friend Taylor. They were  face painting by the pool  

This is real life. This is an 8 year old melting down. I have had so many nights that these kids have just been so off routine and exhausted, that this is what happens. This particular day, I think every kid in the house had had a complete meltdown. When Ellie started hers, I just started taking pictures. She was crying because I asked her to eat dinner./food. 

And yes, Worth was on call. He misses all the fun. 

Ellie competed in her first golf tournament this summer. She placed 2nd in her age group. (of 2 girls.) She shot  1 26 on 3 holes. According to her dad, she has a good drive, she just has to work on her short game. 

Ellie and her competition. Catherine. 

Mack met up with his buddy Luke at the awards party for the golf tournament. They shared Boo Boo stories before discussing Mack's upcoming Batman birthday party. 

Ellie getting her prize for competing. I was so proud of her. She did so good for it to be just her first time competing. 

Even cleaning up the playroom involved being in costume and character. 

We went to a summer reading celebration at the library yesterday. Mack was having a popcorn snack while we waited on his sisters to get their faces painted. 

The kids had fun at the library celebration. Unfortunately after all that reading they did this summer, their cards didn't get pulled out of the bucket for a prize. Maybe next year!