The Middle of Beach Week (August)

Beach mornings tend to start quietly. If you wake up Nana, you're dead.

But the truth is everyone's up pretty early. Stu's the first (dark o'clock!). Matt and Patrick's house both tend to be early risers. They go to bed earlier than everyone, so that's probably a huge factor! 

Nana has threatened Shane not to be loud before 7 AM. People are up before that, but that's the line for when it's allowed to be noisy!

The youngest are normally roaming around eating and playing with toys downstairs.

Nana had Harper and Nathan parallel playing Tuesday morning! There's a fairly strong family resemblance going on between all the cousins (Save Shane, but he fits in every way that counts!).

Any of the older kids who wake up (like Cole) are usually allowed to hop on electronics to keep them quiet. They were all clusters around upstairs. Funny sitting positions are a family thing.

We're all pretty limber.

B was the most normal this round, but I saw him contorted into a hilarious position one night (I might have even caught it in camera!). I always find B extra amusing because he's a clapper like Nana and myself.

There's been construction going on next to us. It's been interesting seeing a pair of guys set the foundation of a house. I expected they'd have more people, but I guess they only need it to survive until the next natural disaster. Build it cheap enough and if it survives, you've won the real estate lottery.

Our beach house has definitely seen some wear and tear. There are loose tiles I can't un-notice. We're supposed to catalog things we notice, so we don't get blamed for them.

Cracks in the floor and signs all over the wall indicate that it's been a party house before. The owners are probably thrilled we showed up! We're easy!

The house has some odd design decisions to it. I assume it was thrown up from a mold as quick as possible. I won't get started on the microwave (Oh that stupid microwave...), but it took me a few days to notice there was a doorbell on the front porch.

Doorbells are normal for a front entrance, but the only way to to the front porch is through the house! Unless someone shimmies up a pole or brings a ladder/grappling hook it ain't happening. Maybe I should be glad the doorbell is there in case I get locked out while on the phone with Carrie?

But enough about the house.

Everyone wanted to go outside this morning.

I thought we'd start at the pool, but the kids were all about the waves!

I took a couple of quick pictures and then put my phone down at the house. I got a ton of beach photos last time and I didn't want it to be a liability if I had to jump in the water.

I don't know if this pic is from then, but Nana texted it to me and it fits what happened. I certainly wouldn't have my cell phone in my pocket looking like that!

I didn't realize we'd be gone as long as we were and I missed Carrie's pre-work calls. I left her a message and some funny memes to make sure she knew I was thinking about her.

We spent about an hour at the beach before coming back to the pool for maybe half an hour.

It was a great electronics break!

Or should we say the electronics were a good beach break?

Nana and Pop went down to the beach one night, but I didn't get any pictures! They were always active with the kids in the house, so there were plenty of opportunities there. It would have been to have proved they go outside from time to time.

Megan's family is still moving into their new house. Big B stayed home and was working on it, but he checked in Megan, B, and Sammy on video calls. I saw them talking to him when I was cutting through the room at night sometimes and through the day.

I'm sure Megan and Kathleen are thrilled they're going to be "so close" to each other. Ka visited Megan in Ghana, Megan would fly in from Chicago....I think they're three hours apart now and that's the closest they've been in a decade+. They originally moved to Greenville together, but Megan's been to Ireland, Russia, India, China, Chicago, Arlington, and somewhere in South America, too. And that's just what I can rattle off the top of my head! Some were short term gigs, so you'd have to ask Megan if you want the full and accurate list.  I know Megan's looking forward to seeing some roots down for a longer stretch.

Nana's art project turned out great! She wanted the kids to do a parachute activity, too. That never materialized, so at least she had proof of this victory!

We got our outside time, so the day switched to inside play.

I don't remember exactly what was happening here, but Shane started a fad. The Among Us / Mafia style game he made the other night took hold! The younger kids went back to it again with the twins officiating, I think. Stu might have participated at one point (I remember some deadpan commentary about suspecting B or Sammy?).

We didn't do any mini-golf / putt putt this year. Nana said that the kids almost rebelled last year, but I thought it went okay. 

It was cheaper and easier to hang out at the house, so I don't think any of the adults minded. I spent hours and hours on my computer blogging. The kids were with each other, happy, and we got to talk and catch up.

Shane was pumped to show of some games on my computer, so I got off it for him. I think he was disappointed they weren't more excited, too. They probably would have been if Shane had let THEM play the games instead of B and Cole watching him play + narrate. Shane's able to stay happier watching someone else play a game than either of them, because Shane is that social. 

Megan tried to set up some wrestling lessons for Sammy and B.

Sammy's idea was closer to pro-wrestling. He thought he was invincible, but Matt was game!

There was no structured learning. It was just a goofy brawl!

I jumped in to help with Sammy at one point. I'd trip him and flip him, and he'd say, "Ha! You can't trip me!" "Wait..That's what I just did!" "Nuh-uh! Can't trip me! HA!"

I ended up injured with carpet burn on a knee, haha! Sammy knows how to throw his weight around! Megan's hoping to get him and B involved in wrestling. Big B was a wrestler himself. Of all the cousins, Megan's boys are the only ones I can see likely to have that competitive, head-to-head attitude so far.

Tenley might have the athlete mindset, too. Shane's athletic, but so far hasn't shown the training mindset. Harper and Nathan are too young to have a clue. Really, they're all still young with Shane being the oldest at 12.5 years. A LOT can happen in the teen years!

Whenever I walked by the "elders" I heard stories of when they were young or when their kids were younger (and maybe even at the beach together). The beach brings out conversations about family (A Pop quote I remember is that our family used to "invade" rather than visit, because there were so many of us!).

I hope this tradition of gathering continues well into my own elder years. It's special belonging to a family that enjoys being around each other and I'm grateful I get to share it with Shane.

Carrie hates losing us to the beach each week, but she recognizes it as important. She wants Shane to have that feeling of belonging and being loved.

Graham looks cute, but he took my bookmark and said he was going "to steal my happiness."

And then a saw on my knee!? I think he said something sweet like he was healing me, but consider me concerned!

I'm grateful I come from a family tradition of involved men. I remember trying to attack Dennis and Kevin in the pools when I was younger. They'd pick us up and hurl us left and right as we tried to swarm them!

Renee cooked lunch on Tuesday. It takes a little time and work to get everyone sitting down and situation.

She made chicken pot pies! Two were 'normal,' while she made a gluten free one for Matt.

Some of the kids are pickier eaters (Sorry, Stu! It runs in the family). 

And others were quickly trying to finish birthday cards for Pop's birthday!

If you ignore the fact we were all at the beach in a huge house, we didn't do much extra for Pop's birthday. I'd like to think everyone showing up and staying was what he wanted. 

Patrick had to go back early for his new job at a pharmacy in Buena Vista, but he held off leaving until after Pop's big day.

Tuesday night we just all sat sharing stories. I don't remember which stories were shared which night. I know we all talked multiple nights. Shelby had a story about dorm life (and someone taking a dump in the washing machine!). Megan talked about battling corruption (and getting blocked by the state department). Matt shocked Renee by sharing his painting exploits with Ryan and his small group in front of Nana. Gotta keep moving though!

Wednesday morning followed the usual pattern.

The usuals were up early. 

Matt made eggs.

The younger kids swarmed the toys while the older kids ate and retreated into their devices.

I like how Aiden stares at this cup the way the other boys stare at their screens.

Pretty goof sitting position B, but it's still not your best!

It was a little hard to focus with the three chatterbugs deciding to set up shop where I was trying to write, so I went back downstairs.

Sammy got a Chobani flip. Those were a huge favorite and sometimes source of drama for the week.

Nana and I have the same favorite: Key Lime Pie. Those went quick! I think Evie liked those, too. If Nana didn't get hers there'd be trouble! Megan found out they were on sale (10 for $10?) and kept us stocked with variety. I worked to try a new flavor each day. 

Bacon or Bacon on a Hawaiian roll was a common lunch (Did Nana and Pop bake 4 lbs of bacon a day or am I making that number up?).

Nana let Nathan crawl up the stairs to keep him busy while his parents packed. 

He's a solid little guy, though! She had me carry him back down each time to save her back.

Patrick and Shelby headed out around 9:30 AM. We all hugged it out in the carport.

They have the farthest drive of anyone. Shelby's mom is on the way home, though, so they may have a made a pit stop. 

Dennis and Melissa were the next to head out. The left around 11:20 AM.

I was too busy hugging to take pictures of anyone else hugging it out. I forgot to pull my camera back out until the last possible second!

It was lunch time after that. Renee put on an educational podcast for her kiddos.

Then came the beach. I partook of the sunscreen this time. Shane is the only one who gets to skip this step.

He was already outside anyway!

Some people freak out about climbing, but not us! My brothers and sisters were all climbers (the twins in particular had no fear).

The eldest led the charge to the beach.

I took a lot of action shots.

Shane immediately started hand-standing for attention (not that the other boys really watched).

The water was shallow, but Shane kept trying to take his buddies farther out than the adults wanted.

"Hold Dad's hand."

Splash!

"These waves are nothing! Bring it on!"

The waves were a good level of rough for the kids. 

Only 4 minutes passed according to the timestamps before the next wave of sunscreened up kids arrived.

Evie joined right up with Stu and Tenley.

Hooray for waves!

Shane was smart and grabbed goggles. 

He started practicing a dead man's float when he saw my camera. 

Then he started running at me (all very photogenic).

"I think I got a sunburn," Shane said.

"That's not a sunburn. You probably got scraped somewhere." 

Ka traded off with Stu at some point.

Most of the kids stayed out around 45 minutes. 

I was able to stay out of the water most of the time.

Eventually Shane made me go in. Notice how he's far away from everyone else.

Shane said he tickled B under the water and B kicked in the crotch. 

Maybe it was this time, but Shane swallowed some water and barfed (Shane's lucky I didn't get a picture!).

So while the other kids played and had fun, Shane sequestered himself. 

Only he made sure to stay close enough where everyone could see how sad he was.

Which no one was looking except me.

I waited about 10 minutes according to the timestamps before I ran out of patience for him to self correct. When I started approaching him, he moved to maintain distance. He kept putting his head in the water, too, probably so that he had plausible deniability he heard me calling (I'd be impressed he if knew the vocabulary term!).

Stu checked in with the other kids and they all went inside.

I got Shane out of the water and asked him "What's up?" He told me the whole sob story about how B didn't even apologize.

He was probably expecting a lot more sympathy. "You tickled him?"

"Yeah."

"In the water?"

"Yeah."

"And he kicked out?"

That was par for the course as far as I was concerned. "You laid hands on him and he reacted. You play rough and stuff happens." I pointed out my rug-burned knee from wrestling and said, "Sammy got me. It happens. You get over it."

We talked as we walked. Melodramatic boy jumped in the cool hot tub before we went in. Conflict resolution is something you have to learn for healthy sibling relationships. As an only child, the beach is a good place for Shane to get some practice amongst people who love him.

There were no lasting hard feelings (of course).

Shane got goofy, Aiden and Graham got laughing, and life moved on.

Megan wanted to go out and play laser tag for B's birthday.

Shane didn't want to ride with me. He wanted to ride with his cousins!

I hopped in with Matt instead.

B and Sam had played laser tag in Ghana. It'd been a while for Shane and he said he didn't like it or want to go at first (so typical...).

There were enough open spots in the first game that all the kids got to go in except Graham. 

Matt went with Aiden so he wouldn't be scared, so the twins and I watched him.

I put a dollar in for some tokens and we found the cheapest claw machine.

We actually won something on the last coin! 

The twins were ready to get more coins, but I wanted to play it cheap. Graham was happy! There was no reason to raise the bar too soon!

The game finished. Matt was said he was glad he went in with Aiden, because he huddled around Matt the whole game!

Everyone came out pumped. Shane got 9th, Cole 12th and B 14th out of 22. It was better than expected and they were all happy.

There was room for 3 more people in the next game. Shane, B, and Sam all went in. Matt corrupted his kids by showing them video games that shoot dinosaurs. Please ignore this picture, Renee (And don't show it to her if you're not her!).

Cole practiced the family flexibility while playing some free arcade games. He was fine with not going in!

Shane came out limping and upset. He said that he shot and older kid/person a few times and they got mad and charged him cussing! He ran and ended up running into someone else and bumping his head against their gun. I asked him who it was and to point them out for me. He said they'd already left.  I played it down a little and said that I doubted anyone would want to get in a fight with someone half their size and get kicked out. The twins talked to the people up front and they put an employee in the next round. The rules on the wall said stuff like no cussing, but Matt said "Yeah, there was definitely cussing when I was in there!".

Shane's score was great. I talked him up like he was a champ and he got hypnotized by the arcade games soon enough. I bet the sore loser was just mad he got aced by a youngin. My siblings and I used to school people in laser tag back in the day. 

All of the kids marveled at Graham's catch from earlier.

Everyone tried their hands at it.

Shane got two in one claw grab!

I've never seen a claw machine that people were so successful at.

The kids felt like real winners.

Sammy loved everyone cheering him on.

He compared catches with "his cousins!"

Matt had a moment when one of his kids (Aiden?) hopped in and started someone else's game! Whoops! Matt was embarrassed, but they thought it was funny. He went and got some tokens as an apology

I asked one of the employees for a group shot before we left.

We stayed for a total of three games. Megan came back the next day to use up the remaining games she'd bought.

It was time for cake and candles when we got home!

We sang and B made his wish before the cake melted.

Megan bought a wide variety of small treats the kids got to pick from.

The boys finished the night parked next to where I wanted to right. Cole was on a game, but B and Shane were watching something dumb on Youtube (I'd prefer a game over YT, but it looked harmless when I looked over their shoulders. You can't say no to everything all the time!).

What I don't have a picture of is Shane puking and flushing Megan and her family into Patrick's empty room.

It started with a pity party. Shane wanted to have a sleepover with the other kids and I nixed it. I hadn't been told ahead of time and I didn't see the point. They all stayed side by side the moment they woke from the moment they slept. If they did have a sleep over, they wouldn't sleep. They'd stay up talking and then make everyone miserable the next day.

Shane was distraught. He couldn't believe I'd take away the thing he'd looked forward to most all week. He wanted to sleep in the same bedroom or even the same bed as some cousins and I had ruined it all!

Plus he had a headache. He said it was from when he bumped his head into the other guy's gun at laser tag. He'd been well enough to play on electronics, but I went ahead and gave him a ibuprofen. I brought up a cup of water and said, "Take a sip."

Shane started to chug it.

"That's a bad idea, bud."

Shane continued until he drained the cup. Then he laid down, went to sleep, and woke up nauseous an hour later. "Shane needs you!" Megan called.

Shane mostly hit the trash can I brought.

I cleaned up the floor and put the trash can in the mainroom or bathroom to deal with later. Wherever it was, the smell wafted and Megan decided it was better not to smell it all night.

Shane was upset, so I offered to sleep next to him. He left me barely any room. I'm lucky I didn't fall off.

Stu did an initial dump before we were awake (Thanks, Stu!). 

I had Shane scrub the can. He's old enough to help.

There was a small part of me that had worried, "Could it be a concussion? Shane just got hit at the last swim meet!" That was fear talking, though. I was able to ignore and sleep (uncomfortably). Shane was fine in the morning.

Nana put me right to work cleaning out muffin tins (If you like to delegate, start a company or have a bunch of kids).

We dodged a bullet by not having a sleepover. Shane could've spewed all over everyone! I'm 99% sure it's because he chugged water on an empty stomach (because he was too distracted by cousins and electronics to bother to eat a bedtime snack!).

The hot tub still didn't work, but that didn't stop the kids from congregating in.

None of them need much personal space.

The party moved to the pool and continued.

I wouldn't want Nana and Pop to pay as much as they did again, but the house worked out great for our purposes. The kids spent as much or more time in the pool than they did in the sand!

Shane was the last one to come in. He's taller than the water, so I didn't mind leaving him out. He didn't know it, but I could peek on him from the couch where I was reading.

It was lunch time. I don't know what everyone ate, but Nana and Pop had been making a bunch of pigs in blankets. They were probably popular.

Matt brought Harper upstairs pre-nap. 

He'd let his boys watch some Bluey and the other kids semi-chipped in. They all like being in big groups whether they're doing the same thing or not!

The house entered quiet time as Matt and Renee's kids rested. 

Ah! I knew I had it somewhere! B wins the prize for "Most Contorted Position for Electronics." He said he was comfortable when I asked!

Here's Shane watching Cole on Undertale again. 

I thought I was done with this post earlier, but realized I was like this pie. Nearly there. The Thursday pics hadn't uploaded.

The pie ended up like the Thursday pics. I finished them both (Which was great on both accounts).

I've got one last slew of beach pics before I can call this post done.

Some people were flying a kite when we arrived. It was easy mode.

None of the pictures show just how windy it was. There was maybe an hour or so one day I didn't notice the wind. Otherwise, it blew and it blew.

The waves crashed.

The kids played.

Good times were had by all.

I didn't have to worry about the big boys much. 

I just watched from the sand.

There were jetskis pulling out people to boats for parasailing all week.

Run, Cole! Run!

Sammy wanted to hang with the big boys, but the currents carried him farther. He made a bunch of new friends, though! I felt bad when this one woman started trying to help him. I was maybe 10 yards away getting my feet wet. When she kept seeming worried, I handed off my camera and went in.

Megan had a great Sam story. She took him to a playground and they met some older boys. Sam said, "We're playing tag and my mom's it! Come on!" Nothing else was going on and the older kids ended up playing! When it was time to go, he turned to Megan and said, "Mom! Get their phone numbers so we can play again!"

Megan said Sammy hasn't met anyone who's not a friend. She's a little worried that will get knocked out of him once he starts school.

That's a problem for the non-beach week world, though. I'd say more, but I finally near the end of this monster post!

I'm going to end on a stormy note. It's not foreshadowing. It did storm a couple nights. It was hard for me to tell in the bedroom. I woke up once or twice and wasn't sure if it was rain or the constant noise of the surf. There were some incredible lightning bolts over the water tonight. I couldn't capture any of them on camera, but a bunch of us were sitting and talking while they boomed.

Post 2 out of 3 is done for Beach Week! I think these are the hardest posts of the year!