Some mornings are rougher than others.
This morning wasn't. I just wanted to use that picture.
Everyone was up and moving again early enough. Sammy is the one who sleeps the latest.
The old beach shirts came out today.
It just happened. Or if there was a discussion, no one included me!
There's historical precedent for that. It's happened to all of us at some point. "I can't remember who I've told and not told!"
But back to the kids. All of the kids seem to have plenty of energy upon waking.
And the rules are different at the beach. Dreams can come true!
Matt whooshed Aiden's legs out from under him moments after the gif. It was hilarious. Aiden rolled around bounced, up, and then looked at Matt begging him to do it again. And again!
I don't have a good video, though. If Aiden got back up quicker, I could have used the footage. As it is, the only gifs I could make looked like they'd draw an unnecessary roughness penalty.
The younger kids were more exuberant than the older boys. The siren song of electronics called to them.
B was the kid who moved the most between groups. He'd sometimes pop in to check on Sammy or play with Tenley and Evie.
B's the kid I give credit for drawing the most players in for sardines. Good job, kid!
All the parents agreed that we wanted to hit the beach at least once a day, so we headed out before lunch.
Nana and Pop went to the pier with Shelby and Patrick. I don't think Nana or Pop set foot on the beach the whole week! ("I hate sand." - Nana).
Different beaches have different feels to them and I'm still amazed at how gradual the shoreline descended below the waves where we were.
B's ankle deep in this water and then Shane is still ankle deep where he is.....and I'm standing in the water to take the picture!
The waves weren't gentle, though! It made for lots of fun and the occasional scrape hitting the sand.
Lots of people took advantage of the high winds to play in ways I'd like to with Shane one day.
Other people played in the sand. This Among Us reference blew Shane's mind!
Our visits always seem to go in stages. The older kids rush like madmen to the waves, I take pictures, they go further and further until I put down the camera, and then they play in the water for nearly an hour. When it's about time to go, they start to stall by playing in the sand.
And then they go to a 'lagoon' to "clean off" and stall in a new, exciting way!
Only the swimming doesn't end just because we go home!
The kids shower off and then jump into the pool or the hot tub.
I hopped in the pool today. I helped Shane get airborne while others helped me record it!
Shane's learned the basic technique of standing on my shoulders. He's supposed to jump off as I launch up.
From there, you can see where things start to go wronger.
And wronger!
That last throw ended up with quite the bellyflop! He needed some hot tub time to recover.
Cole felt the magnetic attraction to devices that need to stay away from magnets sooner.
There's a whole side story with Cole being upset Kathleen didn't bring a mouse for her work computer. It worked out in the end without him being grounded.....which is something that's made more complicated by the beach. I know I let Shane get away with more than I normally would since it's supposed to be a vacation for both of us!
Nana's not like that. Nana goes hard. She wasn't about to let anyone get away with anything!
But wait! How did I know the note was from Nana? After a lifetime of growing up, she's the only person I've ever known to consistently use paper plates as her canvas.
Plus, she's complained about Shane sitting too far forward on the toilet seat before.
Which is probably a good time to bring up the pretzel bag. Someone did a bad job of rolling up and sealing the pretzel bag after it was opened. Nana saw it. Since I happened to be nearby when she saw it, I got lectured!
"I haven't had a pretzel!" I said. "Why am I being the one lectured?"
"Someone didn't know what to do and I want you all to know the right thing to do! I may have failed them, but I'll start by educating you!"
If only I had it on a recording. Some things don't change no matter how old you get.
I recruited the boys for another game of Marvel United. Cole and B showed more interest than Shane, but he felt enough peer pressure he didn't want to be left out. The boys won this time! They beat the Red Skull!
...and then they went right back to electronics.
Stu or one of the twins was able to rouse the kiddos up for a game of sardines in the afternoon. I stepped outside and saw Cole sitting under the stairs. I pulled my camera out just in time as a procession of kids streamed by.
At varying speeds.
And varying levels of effort to maintain those speeds!
Everyone started to pile in and giggle next to Cole.
I'm sometimes forced to pick between competing shots. B had the best smile in the top picture. Tenley had the best smile below.
Cole managed to stay hidden, but I guess that was his job.
Shane came running around the corner not long after. He was the last one to join the pack!
The kids had free range, but adults were wandering about or reading in the general area. It was more supervision than I ever remember getting by Shane's age.
The adults helped clarify rules, hash out boundaries, and sort disputes to keep the play happy.
I was there, too, but you have to think about the angles of the pictures to figure out what I was up to at times.
Everyone got some AC when the game was finished. Matt got Aiden to read a book instead of look at a screen.
Shelby was at work on dinner for the night.
Patrick and Pop got put on grocery duty to assist.
This was the day we should have taken the picture of all the present and future fathers.
We had the people and the shirts!
But we didn't.
We did all come together for tacos!
Shelby used the instant pot for the chicken and set out ingredients for everyone to build their own.
There was even lettuce to make it look and feel a little healthier (but you'll notice I had plenty of meat and cheese for flavor!).
We don't have set meal times, so much as if you want food you'd better eat when everyone else is eating or there won't be anything left. "You snooze, you lose!" was one of Nana's rules.
The kids were less motivated than the adults.
They had to be wrangled into their seats to eat.
Or Kathleen's!
And when they were done...
....well, you knew they were done!
All the kids do a good job of minding when anyone really sets their foot down. They may forget a few minutes later, but in the moment they usually listen when the weight of attention comes down on them.
They eventually all migrate backdownstairs to leave the slower eaters and clean up crew in peace (Plus, no one wants to be voluntold to help!).
I took this picture, because the boys were doing something funny and I wanted to remember it.
You know what? I don't remember it.
Kathleen had work to do from her job, but Megan was working on finding painters and handymen in Chicago. Kathleen pitched in, because that's what the twins have always done: Been a team.
I was worthless. All I did was a take a photo and a mental note that they still work well together!
Darkness came and bed times started to follow. Shane figured out how to watch youtube videos on his tablet and I wasn't thrilled about it, but I hadn't caught him on anything I thought too inappropriate either. I let it slide since it was the beach.
When the kids did go to sleep, it was game time! I used to bring more games, but since everyone is always exhausted from kid duty I've pared down my expectations over the years.
Matt, Patrick, Shelby, and I settled on playing The Crew. Shelby hadn't ever done a trick taking card game before.
Kathleen and Megan came up later and everyone stayed up talking way later than normal. It was going to be Patrick and Shelby's only full day at the beach, so we had to get our family time in or it wasn't going to happen!
Shane was long snoozing by the time I went to bed. He's such a sound sleeper I don't have to worry much about waking him. On the flip side, I knew he was going to wake me up the moment his eyes popped open come morning!
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