We departed Clearfield, PA and headed for NC. It was a long drive and Randy was starting to come down with something but we made it arriving late Sunday night. Valerie and the Berg's were already there so first thing the next AM we headed to the beach. This year we all went in on a super huge awesome shade providing tent that a small village could fit under. This made a huge difference for everyone ... even us sun goddess!! The waves were also very tasty and perfect for boogie boarding!!
We took the opportunity to get manis and pedis!! It was a bit nuts doing this with all of us but the salon did a great job on every ones toes and fingers! The high light was the black light dryer ... very "glowy" ....
Feeding everyone was always a treat! We tried taking turns and this proved to keep the meal selection all over the place. Everything was delicious and even leftover night proved to be scrumptious!!
Mimosas are always a good thing to have on vacation!! :)
Other activities were bike rides, tattoos from Auntie Val from HI and making bird houses with Nono!!
An afternoon with Nono fishing yielded two fish and a lot of smiles!
And to make sure everyone got enough exercise we did the Emme and Nono's Great Race!! This was a triathlon for the kids. The distances were taken from a real youth/junior triathlon site and they all did AMAZING!!
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| Here is everyone showing off their "ink" ... black racer numbers on their arms and legs. |
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| Chris was the first racer and completed the age appropriate distances of 50 yrd swim, 1+ mile bike and about a half mile run. He never stopped and did GREAT! |
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| Next to start the race was Hailey, Acacia and Maddy. Maddy opted to step it up a notch and do the "big kid" distances which were 100 yrd swim, 4+ miles bike ride and a mile + run. Maddy did the bike ride on a Princess bike that was way too small for her and, like Chris she did not stop and finished in seconds over an hour!!! WAY TO GO MADDY!!! |
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| Here we have the older girls first flip turn ... |
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| and here is the end of the swim. |
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| Samantha did a version of the race similar if not the exact one that Chris did! Just like her big sister Maddy, she was going to exceed every one's expectation and she did!! |
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Here we have all the winners with their medals!! A stellar performance by all!!! Keep in mind, this was done in NC in AUGUST!! We made every attempt to do it while the sun was not blazing but it was still pretty darn hot!!
We also celebrated a few birthdays! Valerie, Bill and Manny all have birthdays very close to each other! Soooo - we opened presents one day ....
and new shoes ..
Group hug for Auntie Val! You have to look closely but all four girl cousins are in the shot .... look closely for Samantha's eye! |
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| Manny got many cool gifts but this talking soccer ball was his favorite! |
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| And Uncle Bill's new golf shirt! |
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..and extra cool t-shirt!
After all the gifts were open everyone went to bed. And of course the next AM we all had cake and ice cream for .... BREAKFAST!!! |
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| Manny's very first ice cream!! mmmmmm |
Hailey and Acacia performed a fantastic song and dance for us! They wrote their own song and choreographed the dance. The lyrics literally brought tears to my eyes. They were so sweet. Auntie Julianne and Uncle Bill missed the performance and they MUST make Hailey do it again for them (maybe get Maddy to play Acacia's role??)
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| The final good byes were tough but everyone got a good hug or two in!!! |
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| My favorite photo!! ALL the cousins having some quality bonding time with each other!! Until next time!! |
