Holden Beach

Somehow what was supposed to be a simple trip to the beach for Mom & Dad Blood ended up turning into a giant Blood Family Reunion. But Mom & Dad were generous and let us all tag along. Turns out 22 people (not EVERYONE could be there) can fit pretty nicely into two beach houses!

Aaron & Eowyn

I could seriously kiss those cheeks all day

Our house had all these beach and alcohol-themed signs hanging around.

Despite the liquor we found in the pantry, Sangria was the closest we got to alcohol that week.

Brianna & Catherine watching Frozen (of course)

Avery also enjoyed a bit of Frozen.

Until she realized Mommy wasn't there anymore. 

Catherine is SO not a beach bum.

This whole experience was wasted on her. 

Claudia & her beautiful girls.

Brianna is simultaneously picking her nose and flipping me off.

Aaron mostly just tolerated the beach.

But he LOVED being taken out into the deep water.

Seth doesn't need water--just sand

Jason & Seth in a rare moment of non-contention.

Although I'm guessing from this picture that Seth is trying to boss Jason around.

Our little compound that Jon got to assemble and disassemble every day.

SO grateful we decided to buy the canopy! Second-best beach buy we made.

The best beach-buy? UV-protection swim shirts for everyone except Catherine.

That girl obviously got her genes from someone besides me.

Seashells are tolerable for chewing on

"I'm cold! I want to go home!"

I refused to take her, so we got this instead: 

I was a bit envious of her nap on the beach.

Dad enjoyed the beach from the shade of the canopy

Seth & Megan

Megan fell and had to get stitches a day or two before they got to the beach, so she was stuck on the shore with Seth. Such a bummer! 

A happy Aaron with his daddy

Three cousins, playing happily at the beach...

...until the sand-throwing got out of control: 

Gee, who could have see that coming?

Relaxing in some of the thirty thousand rocking chairs at our house: 

Princess in her favorite Princess shirt: 

Popsicle time: 

Why Popsicles have to be eaten outside: 

Most of the cousins enjoying dinner together on the deck: 

More picture overload to come!

Science Center, Round 2

Well, before the Science Center was the desperate phone call from a friend with a daughter about to be baptized and no one to take pictures in her white dress. I am in no way qualified for this, but I have a lovely camera and did my best. 

She has three beautiful daughters and the youngest showed up with this giant Rainbow Dash stuffed animal. Thanks to Grandma Cathy, Catherine owns a giant Pinkie Pie. And so we had two tiny girls with massive ponies assisting at the photo shoot:

Catherine & Shea

Then it was off to the Science Center! Once again, we spent 90% of our time in the Kids' Room: 

Water play

Catherine's favorite thing at the Science Center: 

Aaron's favorite thing: chewing on my lens cap 

Building with Duplos. 

We love this place! We'll definitely be here several more times this summer.

Pool Time

Seth & Emma enjoying our neighborhood pool

Aaron tolerates the neighborhood pool

I promised Seth a treat if he would pick up this torpedo off the bottom of the pool with his hands.

He's very adverse to putting his face under the water, but I thought bribery would work.

Nope. Not even bribery this time!

Catherine can only handle about an hour of pool time before she's done

All dry & warm

Aaron loved this lid more than the water.

So lame. 

Sprinkler Fun

Possibly, it was a bit chilly that day...

...but not chilly enough to stop us from busting out the new sprinkler! 

I'm in love with this picture: 

And this one: 

Playing with Photoshop: 

The double jump!

Wondering where the other members of the family were? 

Surprise, surprise: inside eating!

Three Pictures

Seth loves being a helper with Aaron.

I really don't know what I'd do without him.

We had Nutella on toast one morning for breakfast.

For some reason I'm hesitant to serve this meal again...

Catherine has a slight obsession with soap and hand-washing.

At one point our main-level bathroom had five different types of bar soap and two liquid soaps that she had gathered from various locations throughout the house. I won't complain--playing in the sink keeps her from other, more disaster-prone activities (like climbing the shelving in our bathroom and applying every single Band-Aid she can find). 

Bath Time

Three little monkeys in a tub

Seth makes sure Aaron doesn't fall over

Happy baby, post-bath

"Umm...I need that camera."

"Wish I could figure out this whole crawling thing..."

(Excuse the blurry photos--still figuring out details on my fancy camera)

Life

Princess Superhero Elsa takes a flying leap onto the futon

Seth playing some variety of racing game on the iPad

Eating Ovaltine straight from the jar

A friend in the ward inherited a bouncy castle from a family member. But once his kids got bigger and exceeded the 100 pound weight limit, he asked if my kids would be interested. Umm...YES!  

The kids love having their own "pumps". 

And they can't use it unless they clean up the basement, so it's win-win for me!