Poolside

We also enjoyed time by the pool. The amount of time at the beach is very limited with napping children, but we did make great use of the pool.

Cheri (in the background) Mike with Owen, Joshua and Mason

Sweetness

Rebekah's 9th birthday was Tuesday. Almost the entire group walked/rode bikes to the nearby doughnut shop to celebrate. It was a sweet celebration.
Rebekah is such a great big "sister" to the whole group. She especially loved on Ryan and I loved having her help. Courtney and Pat announced they were pregnant with Rebekah shortly before EJ and I got married. How is it possible that she is 9?

Caleb

Caroline

Jacob, Bailey, Mason, Joshua and Owen

These 2 were inseparable. I hated watching them say goodbye.

Mason and Ellery

Rebekah, we loved celebrating with you!

Beach Bums

We enjoyed 3 glorious days. I am trying very hard to dwell on those days and not the 3.5 we missed. The kids have so much fun together.
We are so blessed by each of these families. They truly have become like family to us. I can't explain how the week works so well. I think quite frankly, it is by God's grace. We have His grace and therefore His peace allows us to enjoy one another. Throughout the noise level, the bumping into one another and the exchange of parental duties, He allows us to love one another and enjoy one another.

Asleep on the beach! The BEST!

Most days we weren't allowed to swim in the ocean. Earl was started giving us trouble even earlier in the week. It didn't bother me, but I know the older 3 would have enjoyed being out on their boogie boards.

Rebekah and Owen

Bailey and Mason (almost always together)

Rebekah, Owen and Joshua

Courtney and Ryan (he got so much love)

Enjoying a moment by himself

Our "camp" and a few of our smallest kids were almost washed out to sea, so the guys built a trench. It worked really well. The beach seemed smaller this year and more crowded than in past years.

I love how busy kids stay in the sand.

On the Road

We left Sunday, Aug 29th for the OBX. This was Mason's first trip in the "way" back.
Naturally, I needed to take a picture.
He thought he was hot stuff. The van was loaded!!!!

It didn't take long and Mason was asleep. Ouch!

We were all so excited. We waited all summer to go on this trip. The McClures flew in from TX the day before and drove our other car to the beach. We joined 4 other families in Duck, NC. 12 adults and 13 children in a 10 bedroom house. The house was perfect. This is the first (in 5 yrs) that we want to book the same house again next year. We made great time down there. Ryan did really well. Owen is at the age that he must ask "how much longer" every 3 minutes. That got a little old.
The unloading process was very hectic. Almost all of us arrived at the same time. Plus, EJ and I were on dinner duty. I must confess for a brief time, I was asking myself if our group had finally gotten so big that it wasn't going to work. Things settled down and once we got the kids in bed I felt much better.

Sadness

We are home. Two days early from our vacation, no thanks to Earl! OBX was evacuated and this very sad family was kicked to the curb. We managed to drag it out one more day with a pit stop at the Great Wolf Lodge. But now the inevitable must happen. I must deal with my disappointed heart and it's ugly.
I know I will feel better in the morning. I will post all about the fun we DID have at the beginning of the week. I am forcing my mind to count those blessings. Perhaps downloading the pics will help!