The 'Ei's Have It: Ahhh, Avalon

I stopped working the last Friday in June and the very next day, we hit the road for a week at the beach with my mom's side of the family. The matriarchs of the group are the 3 'Grandmoms' (my mom and her two sisters). And, at our largest, we had fifteen 'cousins and spouses' and twelve grandkids. Even our boisterous girl took a morning to adjust to the excitement when the first full-on family beach visit kicked into gear, but she quickly decided that company and chaos were just fine by her! We rarely get all of us together and it was great spending time with everyone. We even snuck in a cousins-night out to dinner, but I think the idea of a kids-free dinner had us running out the door so quickly we all forgot to document the occasion with a picture. Chris and I talked about the ridiculous amount of smarts around that dinner table (as the 'people's cousin' working at a public high school with no initials after my name, I'm approved to say this without it being bragging :o). I'll go on record to say that if we ever have a medical, intellectual, or musical emergency, I want it to be while vacationing with this crew.

Grab a cup of Avalon Coffee and sit back and relax...this picture-full post could take a while.

We had a slow, but sweet start to our trip out on Saturday, with a Dunkin' Donuts visit to kick off vacation.

Allie's never been one to say 'no' to a donut, or at least to licking the icing and frosting off of one.

We went for an evening beach walk the first night there. We should never assume that Allie won't get soaked on those 'walks.'

She caught a Grandpa.

And take note- you'll see this dynamic duo (Sarah is almost 4 years old) quite a bit.

We got to share our beach week with Grandmom, Grandpa, and this little cutie (Colin) and his parents and grandmom (Cousin Peter and Alison, and his Grandmom, my Aunt Paula) at 'Our Beach House' as Allie dubbed it.

Alison nailed it when she said these guys were awesome together, 90% of the time.
I chose to show you shots within that percentage range.

Colin: 'A little help, Al. Thanks.'

And a not-so-little snuggle for Grandmom.

Two super-heroes and a self-dubbed 'Super Girl.' (Apparently she didn't think 'Humble Girl' had quite the same ring to it.)

Allie's 2nd cousin Cora is a solid match for her in spunk (which we love), and I'm pretty sure that when these two girls combine forces, they might just rule the world one day. Consider yourself warned.

But man, what a cute powerhouse team they would make.

And speaking of cute...here's Superman himself, Rhys.

We snagged some Tim and Alice time for the first weekend as well.

And here are the matriarchs themselves. They make 'Grandmom' look good.
(Smiles courtesy of having every single one of their grandkids under one roof at the same time, if only for an evening.)

AND...here they are :o). In all of their glory.
(And I think these are the only shots of Tessa and Jackson that I snagged, so look closely!)

A liiiiitttle better. To be fair, 'Baby Addie' (as Allie calls her) in the front, had a fever :o(.

Now this step of 3-year-olds is just showing off.

But then again...

They've had a little practice (2012).

I don't like the next picture. I feel like it captures our 'threenager' (another good call by Alison that week) a little too well. I flash ahead to Facebook selfies and it makes me cringe...but just look at how much she loves her Alice.

Oye.

Speaking of 'Threenagers...'

I'm sure there will be a 'no boys allowed' sign posted somewhere at the next vacation.

The beach was a huge hit. We packed lunches each day and the kids went to town playing in holes and running and screaming...and repeating.

We hit up (and by that, I mean 'took over') an ice cream shop one night and a magician show snuck up on us while we were trapped, but the kids left with sugary smiles and magic wands, so we'll call it a success.

Say, 'Gross Ice Cream Flavor with Gross toppings!!!'

She loved it.

Addie's feeling a little better - there's that smile!
(Wait, a cameo Tessa shot in the background!)

And the cousin glamour shot award goes to...Julie!

Check out my latest magic trick. I'm going to make me...

Disappear!

The big boys (Tim, Ben and Nathan) had no trouble making their ice cream disappear.

We took our first trip to the Boardwalk with Allie and my mom and dad. I think I'm going to have to outsource the spinning/dropping/crazy rides to her dad when she gets older. The girl's crazy. If her stomach was one place and she was another, she LOVED it.

She requested a pre-Boardwalk outing pic with her Grandmom.

Ready to walk the boards.

No, she's not wandering...she's hunting...

Cotton Candy.

We could have just kept popping quarters into this machine all day and I think she would have been happy.

Thank goodness we have a solid 13 years before she does this for real.
Her road focus leaves something to be desired.

Riding the big ferris wheel with Grandmom and Grandpa.

One of these guys is a bit more excited than the other to get this ride started.

That's more like it :o).

I promise she met the ride height requirements. The first time she rode this, I wasn't sure whether she was terrified or thrilled. Turns out she was thrilled. She picked it for her repeat last ride.

She did have a little trouble following the 'hands off' seat release instructions.

I made it to the beach too :o)...

See?

And there's always time for a little post-boardwalk baking.
Colin: 'You gonna give me a turn?'

Allie: 'Leeet's just get you your own spoon.'

I'd buy whatever these two are selling.

And apparently they're selling 'crazy.'

Unfortunately, our 4th of July outside festivities got rained out, but we made the most of it with a whole bunch of Red, White, and Blue, and a whole lot of Frozen.