carmack cousins

John, Shannon, Jake, Caroline, and Cathryn hopped in the car last Tuesday afternoon and came to stay for a week and a half of pure fun.  I'm telling you, my kids were in heaven.  We all were.  It was absolutely the best vacation for all of us.  The kids played great.  The adults had tons of time to catch up (and do some great coupon deals!!! Thanks, Shannon).   

We spent several fun days on the beach.  Skipping naps and drinking more drink boxes & junk than we want to remember.  They played hard...and then fell into bed before 7:00 each night.  The older two were quite a pair as they lived in the water and jumped the waves together laughing.  The younger two became fast friends and had mini spa sessions in the sand.  As long as everyone was fed, they were happy! 

Jake was a superstar with his younger cousins and amused them by playing "dump dump" for hours and listening to them scream with excitment. They did give him small breaks so he could ride the freezing cold waves and do his football drills on the beach.  They loved cheering, "Go go go.. go Jake!"

Not all days were spent at the beach.  Some were spent on the back deck in the baby pools, watching movies & eating popcorn, or playing loooong games of chase.  Of course, we visited the boardwalk for Fisher's Popcorn & Thrasher's Fries!  That counts as lunch, right?   

Celebrating Aunt Shannon's special birthday was a highlight as well.  Miss Caroline was more excited to sing Happy Birthday than anything else this week....the girl LOVES a birthday party.  Cupcakes from John, loving artwork from the littles, and a super FUN date with her hubby.  All of the adults had an incredible night at Sunset Grill celebrating as well.  Fabulous date night for all of us, thanks to our awesome babysitter. 

The kids laughed for 10 days straight.  They were SO good to each other.  It was quite amazing. 

Shannon and I also treated each other to a "free day" of shopping and just being alone.  That might be the highlight of our week!  ha! 

The last night we all went out to the beach after dinner to take some last minute photos.  There were so many good ones, but this is my personal favorite.  This sums up our week...

Laughing and Loving.