We had a blast this year camping at Grayland.....in our new toy.......
We LOVE the place we go.....our sites are in a cul-de-sac that has an island of trees in the middle.....they play for hours with hand-held radios, bikes, scooters, rip-sticks, etc....
Ella loves the tent trailer......when she'd get tired, she'd take a break & watch a video....
Ella & Jersie play really well together.....they were following Cannon around..
Love her!
Ella is a total tom-boy when she wants to be.....she's helping Cannon pick up worms...yuck! (Note Cannon's sock-feet :)
Zach rocks his rip-stick. I went walking through the park & he joined me on my second go-round.....NEVER stopping.
Someone had put up a swing in the island....making for more fun!
Emma, Lexi, & Kaelynn.......beautiful!
Connor & Jared.........Con loves to make goofy faces & Jared is a sweat machine!!!!
Discovered this pic on my camera, hadn't even realized Ty took it....but I guess it proves I was there, lol! I had just gotten back from my walk & we were having lunch....
Bikes & radios..........Zach & Brae are such studs!!!
Connor, mister cheese!
Chalk art........even Megan & Taner joined in - gotta love them!!
Chance looking thrilled that Ty took his pic......
Again Ty's handy-work..........I'm sure Mel will love this........hahaha
We cook all our meals by Mel's trailer & Ella & Jersie discovered that jumping off their step was TONS of fun!
Ella LOVES Jersie............ :)
We eat REALLY well when we camp, this year Taylor wrote out the menu each day.....YUMMY!
Campfires at night are always fun, silly stories, games, trying to stay warm...smores - YUM!
The next day was Grandma & Annette's birthdays, so Mel had the kids make cards & balloons for them....
Emma & Cady through the smoke...........
Lexi & Kelly.........
Connor LOVES smores...........
...but you've never had a smore until you've had Rod make you one..........he cooks them from the inside out..........have you ever had a marshmallow that was crispy on the inside? The best!
Grandma's trailer/campsite decorated for her birthday.....
what's better than a giant card on your driveway? :)
The birthday girls in Westport..........
Uh-oh.....Brae's head is almost in a shark..........lol..........
2nd annual cute behinds shot...........
Almost all the grandkids..........(we missed you Britney)....
Saltwater Taffy anyone?
Like father, like son........
Pretty flowers, just cuz I like to take pics............
My handsome boys, Zach, Brae, & Connor.......
Jersie................oh those eyes!
Connor, aka STUD........just ask him!
Ella loved trying to keep up with the big kids!
The boys.......Jared, Cannon, Connor, Zach, & Brae...........
We brought a Sponge Bob chalk-painting set...........the kids had a blast with it, Tyler however, FREAKED out! He was sure I had let Ella ruin her cute outfit..........I laughed.......it was all washable...it all came out........after all.....it was just wet chalk!
Jersie & Ella......double trouble!
Heading to the beach........
Brae helping Ella dig & play in the sand.......
Jared throwing water on Carly! :)
Carly & Taylor..........
Taylor had brought a skim board this year.....it was a hit! Connor wasn't getting the hang of it at first...and if you know him, you KNOW that he figures out how to do EVERYTHING...but if he struggles at all, he gets REALLY MAD......
...but he got the hang of it after a couple tries!
There were TONS of little fish just off shore,....bring in hundreds of seagulls.....gross!
I love him!!!
Contemplating the waves.........Taylor, Brae, & Carly.........
Follow the leader.............
Jersie & Ella...... Jersie loved climbing into the holes the other kids would dig....Ella, just ran from one thing to the next...not wanting to miss out on anything!
Zach, mastered the skim board.........
Taner on the skim board..........we just prayed that he wouldn't lose his shorts!
Our adorable little princess!
Megan, taking pics..........she likes to take pictures as much as I do! (But I put mine on my blog...when are you going to? :)
Cannon & Connor..........notice how much taller Cannon is.......yet Connor is over 9 months older!
Brae & Jared...........what handsome guys!
Day 2 of the beach...........so this is Ella's new suit, since her others are SO small, she has had a major growth spurt this summer.......I bought it a little big.........clearly too big.....but she still was cute! I just wanted it to last for next season!
Me & Ella making butterflies on the beach....
Boys will be boys.............
Running to get a bucket or something..............
Brae, Ella, & Connor venturing into the waves......
Ella putting her sand toys in a bag....the tide was coming in & a wave almost washed a way a bunch of her toys & she was STRESSED!!! She yelled at the ocean, it was hillarious!!!
Taking a walk with Daddy........
Uncle Rod trying to get Ella to kiss the fish...........yeah, that DIDN'T happen!
The boys loved playing in the waves............
Ella was content to watch them from our chair.........
...little did the realize that a seal would swim right up to them!
We know there's a rule about how close you are allowed to get to wildlife....100 yards or something....but what's the rule when they swim right up to you?
It made Ella a little nervous.........Taylor to the rescue! The seal stayed on the beach for a bit, then swam back out, then came back in a little farther down shore.........we worried that it was either beaching itself to die, or give birth...........we hope it was the later............
We had planned to make ice cream to go with the birthday cake the day before, but it was really cold that night,...so we made icecream the next day........YUM.....homemade Butterfinger, Raspberry, & Strawberry..........3 kinds......all SOOOO good!
Jersie waiting for her ice cream..........
The cousins watching a movie outside Lexi's trailer..........
Brotherly love........and piggy-back-rides..........
Zach taught Kaelynn how to ride his rip stick.....she was a quick learner! All that gymnastics has paid off!
As most of you know, you know Brae LOVES to cook! Uncle Rod & Uncle Bret let him help make the chilli! It totally made his day!
Ella learned how to peddle her trike too..........lots of accomplishments this week!
Kids table #1...........
Kids table #2..........all lovin' the food!
Grandpa & Grandma on our 3rd trip to the beach.........best grandparents & parents EVER!
Daddy teaching Ella how to fly one of our kites...........
she did it!.........
Zach, Jared, Kaelynn, & Cady jumping waves.........
Ready, set, JUMP!
Taylor, Carly, Kaelynn.....
Ella running everywhere on this day!
Bret contimplating the skim board........
Look at Brae run.........such a stud........football has been great for him!
Me, Connor, & Ella....every time a wave came in, she wanted me to lift her up, so she could jump the waves........
Uncle Bret & Tyler burrying Zach in the sand......
the finished result.........
Cannon wanted in on the action, so Chance & Tyler burried him too........
look at his grin...........
SOOO dirty after............
We got a lot of sun on this day......loved the blue skies!
Ella digging & loving it!
Brae & Connor........
Cady, Lexi, & Emma.......
Brae & Connor running to a hole they had all dug to fill it with water.......
Connor & Jared getting in on the digging.......
It was a team effort!.........
....all for these 2 things......
....they were SO proud of the hole they had dug & filled for those fish........all though I don't think any of them realized why they kept having to re-fill the water.........funny how sand works!
So the 4 big girls have gone to the beach before the sun goes down for years.......now that Zach is older than the age Carly first started going down with Megan, Britney, & Taylor..... he was hoping he'd get to go with them......Kaelynn & Brae wanted to go too, so I took the 3 up the hillside at sunset........of course Connor & Ella followed........
Connor, Kaelynn, & Zach....
Connor, Ella, Brae, Zach, & Kaelynn.....
Brae, Connor, Zach, & Kaelynn...........they are so funny, young, but funny! Now they can say they went to the beach at sunset.......... ya gotta love 'em!
Connor.......he decided he wanted to master the big bike.......
...which he of course did on his FIRST try! Keep in mind he has to jump up on it to reach the peddles, since his little legs don't reach the ground!
Zach, mid-air doing tricks on his scooter!
Brae eagerly awaiting cobbler...........
can he get any cuter?
The newlyweds............
Waking up on our last day........
We had a great time with the family - can't wait to go again next year! We have to find a way to go without Brae missing football practice though..........
