Fun in the sun

We spent the morning at the beach again. (I don't know if I could get tired of saying that!)
Levi & Griffin
And after the beach was the pool. Papa was soaking up some sun!

The kids enjoy eating lunch outside: Emmy, Griffin, Bailey, Levi & Casey

Here's my favorite kid! I love this picture!!!

Little princess Bailey

Travis taking Griffin on a ride

Emily just floats around and around and around the pool. She's a doll!

Levi loves jumping in the pool.

More jumping!!!

Here's a moment I caught on camera and I just love this picture: Great Papa & Papa (my Grandpa and Dad) sitting on the front porch. They were either enjoying their conversation or enjoying the peace & quiet without kids! OR BOTH!!

Last year, we started a tradition to have professional family pictures taken on the beach. Here are the girls before the photo session. Emily, Bailey & Casey

All the kids practicing their "Cheese!" Levi, Emily, Bailey, Casey & Griffin

Right before the pictures, we ate dinner at a local pizza joint called New York City Pizza. They had great pizza!! The photographers got here at 6:30 and hopefully, we got some cute pictures on the beach. I'll post them as soon as we get the CD. We are now getting the kids ready for bed and hopefully the adults can stay awake long enough to play a game! :)

Wednesday morning

This morning, we've gotten to watch sea gulls catching their morning breakfast!

Travis & Eric are making breakfast...waffles & bacon

Eric's first waffle didn't turn out so good.

But, he finally got the hang of it!

Heading to the Salty Dog Cafe for lunch and looks like a perfect day for some ocean time!

Beach day #3

Tuesday morning, the girls headed out for some shopping at the outlet mall. This is a tradition that we started on our very first vacation. The guys take care of the kids while we go find bargains!! It's funny how my shopping has changed. I've gone from getting a new Coach purse to getting underwear and pj's from Gap Kids for Levi. LOL!

Eric took Levi to a local playground and then they at lunch at a joint called The Big Bamboo Cafe & Bar. He said they had a really fun time :)

Rain set in for the afternoon, so it was a perfect day for napping! Most everyone settled in for a long afternoon nap. My dad made his amazing, fall off the bone, spectacular BBQ ribs for dinner. I think these were the best ribs yet! We also had corn on the cob, green beans and baked potatoes. The rain slowed to sprinkles and according to all the grandparents, the kids "needed to get out of the house"!! LOL So, we got all the little ones dressed and headed to the ocean to expend some energy. Once again, Levi loved it. I mean, LOVED it. He was throwing himself into the waves and a few times, I was the terrified, screaming mom! Everyone ended up in the pool and my brother was trying to make sure he hit everyone several times with the squirt guns. I finally was able to surprise him from behind and dunk him! Success is sweet. The kids all took a bath together (very interesting) and settled in for bed. Oh, and Uncle Daniel went to Cold Stone to get ice cream for the adults! Saweeeet! A day of rain at the beach is way better than being at work!!

Beachin' it

Hilton Head has been fantastic so far! We have had some really great family time. Today, it was supposed to rain, but it ended up being a nice day! Dad made some more of his signature breakfast - bacon, sausage, sausage gravy, eggs, biscuits and pancakes for the kids. After breakfast, we all headed out to the beach. Levi did NOT want to go to the ocean, but we pretty much forced him. He went the whole way crying and throwing a tantrum. Once he was there, he stopped crying. After a while, he figured out that the waves were fun. By the end of the morning, he was laying in the water and running into the waves up to his belly! What a brave boy. :) Got some fun pictures of all the kids. Believe it or not, this was the first time the whole family was at the beach all together! Out of 6 years of going to the beach, we've never been there to play together at the same time.

Mommy & Levi right after waking up. We were out on the balcony.

Daniel with Bailey & Casey

Griffin & Levi working hard to build a sand castle

Bailey, Griffin, Levi & Casey

Sophia, Levi & Eric catching some waves!

Bailey & Griffin

Griffin found pieces of a crab. Nice. He held onto it all morning.

Daniel went out in the ocean about 12 miles and found some sand dollars and a starfish!

Jenny, Travis, Emmy & Griffin

Levi

Eric & Travis playing football with a very water logged ball!

Levi trying to "boogie board" without the board! LOL

Levi & Daddy playing with the boatMore of Levi...this could get old - I took 130 pictures! ;)

After the day at the beach, we had dinner. Tricia & Daniel fixed a roast, potatoes, carrots and we headed out to the Salty Dog Cafe for ice cream. Here are the kids watching some boats.

Emily, Levi, Griffin & Bailey with their ice cream

Tricia & Casey waiting on their ice creamVery good day! We ended the evening playing more Blokus. I think Sophia is hooked!! Tomorrow it is supposed to rain again (50% chance) so the girls are heading to the outlet mall in the morning! Happy shopping!!

Day 2

Yesterday was Day 2 of vacation. It was our first full day here. We spent the morning in the pool and on the beach. It was pretty overcast all day, but we still tried soaking in some rays!! After naps, the adults headed to Jim & Nick's - a really good BBQ rib joint. Sophia (our wonderful baby sitter!!!) stayed at the house and ordered pizza for the kids. (She's really great with the kids. We got home and both boys were in time out for different things. She doesn't let them get away with much!! LOL) After dinner we took the kids on a bike ride. The bike paths are awesome around here. Enjoy the pictures :)

Emmy and Great Papa Miller having some cuddle time!

Levi in the pool - he's such a fish this week!

A shot of the pool. I think Dad was flipping Bailey out of the floating chair raft.

I think the kids wore Great Papa out! He fell fast asleep on the couch for a morning nap!

Jenny & Emily walking on the beach

Later in the evening, Casey & Emily were playing their own version of Blokus!

Griffin sporting a new face after eating cotton candy.

Griffin & Levi "playing nice"

At Jim & Nick's:

My brother & sister-in-law, Travis (acting like a goofball!) & Jenny

Great Papa & Granny (they paid for everyone's dinner!! Thanks a bunch!!)

Mom & Dad - see where Travis gets it? I told my dad to smile & this is what I got!

My sister & brother-in-law, Tricia & Daniel (sporting his island shirt!!)

Eric & me (the normal ones in the bunch!)

We split a meal and got baby back ribs, beef brisket and a loaded potato and corn on the cob! Very, very good. :)

Very fun day! Today it is supposed to rain, so we may do some outlet shopping or take the kids to a children's museum. I'll post more pictures tonight.

We made it!!

We finally arrived in Hilton Head this afternoon. The trip wasn't really that bad. :)

Here's Levi on the way today After we arrived, we unpacked all of our stuff - man, it looks like we are staying for a month! I guess it takes a lot of stuff to take care of and feed 16 people for a week. We swam, played in the ocean, grilled out hot dogs and hamburgers, went on a bike ride (OMG, I think my brother was trying to kill me!) and now, all the kids are in bed and the adults are just watching TV and blogging or facebooking. :) Didn't take a whole lot of pics today, but I'll definitely do some major blogging the rest of the week. Enjoy what I did take so far!!

Our view from the house. Yes, it's rough, but we will survive...

Our room for the week

Our bathroom

taken from the balcony

Oh, and there is a popcorn maker on the 2nd floor! What fun. Uncle Daniel made popcorn for all the kids. Here are the boys chilling together: Levi & Griffin (Gur-fin according to Levi)
And the fireworks are still going on! They were pretty. It was seriously like they were going off in our living room!!! I only got one picture, but they were very nice. Happy Independence Day, everyone! I'll post more tomorrow.