North Carolina

We have had a very busy month. Uncle Nick and Aunt Sarah got married, plus we took a trip in the family truckster to Emerald Isle to vacation with Chris' huge extended family. The drive wasn't too bad, except for the 2 hours of traffic going through NYC on the way down (note to self: Use the Tappan Zee bridge next time). Avery only had a couple of crying jags and Nate was relatively well behaved. Thank the Lord for the invention of portable DVD players and the good folks at Pixar. I will admit that there were several times that I would have given anything to be the driver, because being the designated baby wrangler/food & beverage getter/entertainer/toy retriever is NOT FUN and frequently quite painful. Someone needs to invent a car with a swiveling front passenger seat for easy access to the kids with none of the physical contortion.

Nate had a really good time, especially with his first cousins once removed (I looked it up...there was some discussion about this on the vacation and nobody seemed quite sure what the relationship was). Wyatt and Jacob are the children of Nate's first cousin Amy. Here they are trying to make Nate understand Candyland unsuccessfully:



Here's Nate hugging Jake:



Here's Nate with ALL of his cousins and first cousins once removed (he is the only male grandchild, btw):



Here is Avery in her Bumbo with her FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED Elyse, who is one and really loves babies:



Here is Nate's favorite, Uncle Richard:



Mommy and Avery in the pool. Most of Mommy's skin is red and peeling at the moment. Mommy will never tan ever again, she has decided.



Here is a view of the beach house that my in-laws rented. It worked out perfectly for such a large group. Nice place, don't you think?



I'll post some more pictures later. We have hundreds to sort through, including stuff from Uncle Nick & Aunt Sarah's wedding.