Last of the beach pics

To wrap up our week at the beach (because I hate to leave anything unfinished...)

On one of the last days down at the shore, we all split up to do our own things. My children and I went to a nearby playground, although that was short-lived; the sun was beating straight down on us, and there wasn't any shade over the swings and such, so then we visited a convenience store, where we picked up some milkshakes and lollypops. We went back to the house to enjoy our snack in the shade of the porch off of our room.



I taught my littlest sister Rachel to spin:



(They're still in NJ for the rest of the week, so I left her with some wool and the spindle to use until she comes back.)

This is some yarn that I spun while we were on vacation:


And some final pictures:


My dad feeding Lavella cherries. She was so enthusiastic about these that he could hardly cut them up fast enough for her to stuff in her mouth!




Grace and Lavella -- squatting baby pictures are pretty much the best thing ever, I think.


Yet another squatting picture, just because I had to.


Andrew and Elijah, "keeping warm" on a blazingly hot day.



We generally got to the beach around lunchtime, so we'd bring snacks and sandwiches with us. Unfortuantely, this was an open invitation to the seagulls, which were a total menace. One actually bit my finger trying to steal a bagel out of my hand, and at least one of our group had something taken directly out of their mouth.

All of this to say, that's why Christopher armed himself to eat his lunch:

He still got dive-bombed, but at least he could fight back.


Lavella wanted to visit every other family set up on the beach, and had to be rescued several times...doesn't she look like she wants to be rescued?



Joy and Lavella




One of my favorite shots from the week.

For all of those concerned (read: my siblings, who are still in New Jersey), the puppies still pretty much look the same, although a bit fatter. No new pictures today, but I promise a few tomorrow.

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No birds were harmed in the making of this post

When my family went to Washington DC, my younger siblings tried to catch the pigeons. And were successful. (Yeah, they drew a crowd of onlookers and everything.) That's why it was no surprise when these two fellows set out to catch some seagulls.



(I mean seriously, look at them. Could they be looking for anything but trouble?)

But anyway, I love the following set:








I especially love how the birds have completely disappeared from the frame in the last shot. Needless to say, no birds have been caught yet. But we still have a few days left...

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Splashing fun on the Jersey Shore

Well my friends, if you keep coming back to the blog this week, it can only be for one reason -- more beach pictures.  If you're all done with looking at more (and yet, even more!) pictures of us playing in the water, then go away and don't come back until next week.  There's nothing more to see here!  =)

Last night my dad made fantastic spicy Lobster FraDiablo and we had Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob over for dinner (they live about an hour from here).  We had a lovely visit with them, as usual, and my dad and I made Tiramisu for dessert, which was a sweet finish to it all.

Tonight for dinner Hannah took me out for my birthday (I know, a tad late, but that's how we roll 'round these parts), and we had a rollicking good time as only two pregnant girls can.

Oh, and for anyone who wanted to know, Hannah's due on July 12th.

So, for the latest and greatest of our vacation pictures:



(The first picture of all of us together in quite a while, I think.  Andrew's head is hiding behind Lavella.)



I love it when water droplets are perfectly frozen in a picture.



Rescuing Lavella from the waves.











I love their shared anticipation of the waves; both of their little bodies are tensed for the next one rushing in.



Little sand monster.



Greg asked for pictures of me from this vacation, so I had Joy take some today.  Please excuse the plethora of Faith And Lavella pictures -- this is partiularly for Greg's benefit.

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Beach Bellies

These are my favorite beach shots so far from the past two days.



Lavella kept running into the waves and laughing, so Andrew was rescuing her.  After this picture he said "Mommy, can you please put her over there?", pointing up the beach away from the water.





Everyone knows that when you're dead, you have to stick your tongue out.







Thank you VJ for the bathing suit!



Hannah's due in three weeks, and this is her very first "belly shot".



Bumping bellies.

There are plenty more pictures in the Beach 2008 set on Flickr, and I'll be adding more all week.  I'll post the best ones here on the blog, of course, but go there if you want.  =)

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Jersey Shore

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations!  Answers to some questions from the comments:

Joycee -- I'm nauseous and tired, but since I've been back at my mom's, I've actually been able to eat again (haven't been doing much of that for the last 2 months or so.)

Sarcy -- We plan to be in the States until early September...sadly, I don't think that we'll be able to see you.  But if anything changes I'll let you know!

Beka -- Yes, the boys are very excited.  It's cool that they're old enough now to understand, so we can anticipate each new development together.  We talk about the baby a lot, and they can't wait until they can feel it kick.  (I've been able to for several weeks now!)

****************************************************************

Last week we were at a friends house (VJ) who had a sandbox, and my boys loved it.  It kept them occupied and happy for so long, and I decided that we needed to get one for my parent's house too.  When I got home, my mom told me that a neighbor had called and offered their Mr. Turtle sandbox and swingset/slide!  A few days later, my dad loaded up Andrew and Elijah in his truck and they drove down to pick them up.

There have been many happy hours spent in the backyard since in the past week.



Rachel and Joel especially have been incredibly helpful with the children since I got here.  I took this picture after Rachel had just hiked up the hill in the backyard with Elijah on her back.  I'm not sure that I could have done that!

Yesterday we packed everybody up and took a roadtrip down to the Jersey shore.  We're going to spend a week here; a friend is lending us their gorgeous beach house.

The trip was (sadly) less than relaxing, since Elijah was in rare form and terrorized everyone for almost every minute of the drive.  (We've been having some behavioral troubles since Greg left.)  Here are two shots of some happier moments, watching videos on my iPod and laptop:





I sincerely hope that our trip back will be more peaceful. 

Last night we went to this inexpensive seafood place where you can eat out on the dock -- delicious, noisy, and perfect for our huge crew.  Today we plan to spend some time on the beach.  More pictures to follow!

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