Life's A Beach

A couple weeks ago we went on a 6-day beach camping trip with some of Darryl's family. This is the first time we have gone camping as a family, and although we had a good time, it would have been better if we had gone home after 3 or 4 days. I'm not going to act like it was a picture perfect trip. By the 6th day I was totally over it.....and I wasn't the only one. On the last night, Valerie had an awful night terror (which she gets whenever she's overly tired) and it's not very fun to deal with when you're in a campground and you know she's waking everyone up with her screaming and thrashing around in the tent. It got so bad that Darryl was worried she would break one of the tent poles, so he had to lay on top of her to restrain her while she screamed and kicked. In the middle of Valerie's night terror, Kyle sat up and started crying that he wanted to go home. As I sat there on my incredibly uncomfortable blow-up mattress dreaming of being in my comfy bed at home, I had to just laugh. It was at that moment that I made the mental note to never again camp for a full 6 days with little kids. Oh, and did I mention that our tent just happened to be right on top of a colony of ants?


And now for the more happy memories!

Our tanning beauty....




The 5-year-olds....Blake, Damon, and Brenna


Hailey and Valerie in their matching swimsuits!


We spent most of our time on the beach, but when we were at the campground all the kids wanted to do was ride their bikes. They had a blast!


Cooking dinner for the fam


When I tried to put Valerie's hat on, she turned it backwards and informed me that she prefers it that way. It sometimes worries me how much of a tomboy she is, but I have to remind myself that she's still so little and all she has to follow is 2 older brothers. She hates wearing skirts, never wants me to do her hair, and just loves to be rough. But is she not the most adorable tomboy you've ever seen??



The 3-year-olds.....Hailey, Ethan, and Valerie




The 7-year-olds.....Kyle and Whitney. These 2 have grown so close this year! They are such good friends and they have a great time together. Not only that, but I think they can totally pass as twins. Same skin tone, same hair color, same blue eyes...they're fun to watch!



If I have to pick what my favorite part of the trip was, I would have to say when the kids were asleep in the tents and the adults sat around the campfire chatting. Sooooo, putting aside the fact that I was in a bad mood for 75% of the trip, we had a good time and will do it again....only not for as long! :)