Bloods at the Beach

Thanks to the generosity of Mom & Dad Blood, it was off to Holden Beach for the Blood clan again! This time we had everyone minus Elizabeth (who had just had a baby) and James. We still needed 3 houses to fit everyone! Thankfully one had a giant kitchen area perfect for serving the masses meals. 

Rebekah buries Seth

Yes, that is Seth under the hat.

Rebekah was quite thorough.

Aaron was a full on beach lover this year.

He was also the only one who actually kept his hat on the whole time.

The shade dwellers

Elise & Tauriel

Giant beach baby.

Having a baby at the beach was not the most fun for me. It's hard to nurse if you're in a sandy, salty swimming suit. Plus it was just really hot & humid. Thankfully we figured out that soaking his blanket in water and wrapping him in it helped him stay cool. But we still spent a lot of time at the beach house nursing and napping instead of playing in the water. Not unexpected, but still kind of lame. Thankfully the kids (and Jon, mostly) had a great time and still made it to the water every day thanks to kind aunts & uncles. 

Mom Blood wanted a picture of everyone at the beach. Thankfully Claudia brought her nice camera and a tripod, so we were able to get one. Not as nice as our professional ones from a few years ago, but much easier and cheaper! 

Mom wanted a picture with EVERYONE in it, so she had me add in James & Samantha and Elizabeth's family. It's not amazing, but it appeased Mom. 

And the standard crazy version: 

Fat beach baby was not a fan of the waves: 

Seth spent most of his time building things in the sand, as usual. 

Andrew and Benjamin were his constant sidekicks, which was awesome.

He also made friends with another boy there visiting. 

Seth has no trouble finding friends wherever he goes: 

Aaron was also a sand-dweller most of the time: 

Elise loved the water and was always demanding that someone take her to the waves: 

Seth was allowed to use his laptop for a little while in the afternoons.

He was quite popular with all the cousins during this time:

We mostly forced the kids to eat outside for cleaning purposes.

They didn't seem to mind: 

Elijah is almost as big as Brianna: 

Possibly my favorite picture from the beach: 

I love that Aaron has Eowyn to be his buddy!