Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Holcomb style

We did a Holcomb style family reunion at the beach last week and the kids had a blast together! The girls haven't seen Gabriel since we went to Iowa 2 years ago but they picked up right where they left off. It was so fun to see them together.

Chasing Sea gulls
I think Grammy enjoyed her time with her Grandkids :)

The Wilson's


I said my goal was to get family pictures and a picture of the cousins together. In Iowa I tried but it wasn't really happening. Bria was crying for some unknown reason and Reese wouldn't look at the camera, it was a disaster. So this year the kids are older and it's going to be great right?
Hahahahahha.
No.
Bria's pouting, Reese doesn't want to sit down, and Gabriel's like, "Chill girls."
 Let's look back 2 years at my attempt:


How about this year, let's try that again:


Gabriel's ready!
And last time...

This is the best one I ended up getting:

 I guess it'll do.


My love
 Aside from my attempts at taking pictures, I succeeded in making sure my kids had fun by going down to the beach as much as possible. The house they rented was literally right on the beach, just a few steps down and there it was. All 3 kids wanted to live down there so we spent a lot of time watching them chase waves and play in the sand. Bria is proving to be quite the daredevil as she gets older. She loved getting as deep in the waves as possible and dared the water to get her. Seriously child?! We had some major talking to her about the dangers of water, ugh! Reese was pretty cautious and preferred the sand over the water, she also insisted on holding our hand if she went in the water, safety first, I love it.

My love (he had to work a little while there, hence the bluetooth)

Grammy, Bria, and Gabriel

Me and my girls!

My little model



Feet in the sand



Reese no pants!

We also took the kids to the Aquarium and they really enjoyed that.






Mean muggin' Grammy with her boyz


We love the aquarium!
Puzzling with Grammy


The girls got some great bonding time in with Grammy, she spent time with them and enjoyed their company.

I got to catch up with Sara and we had fun relaxing and laughing as our kids played and ran around like crazy.


Cheers!

Cousins are the best
There was also a park nearby that we took the kids to one morning, they were like little monkeys all over the place. Between the park and the beach we were doing a good job of tiring them out.






So I still had to get a family picture and I prepped the girls, thinking that would help.
Bria's got it down, but Reese is throwing a fit.
 
Brian is trying to talk sense into Reese, I'm doing calming breaths and Bria is sneezing


This is my favorite, Reese in full on tantrum mode, I'm about ready to cry, Bria is like, "whatever'" and Brian is laughing
This one is decent, Bria isn't looking and Reese isn't smiling...I look unnatural but whatever. 

Watching my kids with their cousins is always such a joy, it reminds me of all my incredible cousins whom I love so much and still keep in contact with. It's a special bond and I cherish all my memories with them, now my kids will too.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Let Freedom Ring!

This year for the 4th we went down to the Jensen's for a family BBQ/Jax's 3rd birthday party. The girls could not wait to go down and asked everyday leading up to it when we were going. They LOVE their cousins and it makes me so incredibly happy to watch them play with them. It has been scorching hot here, we aren't use to these high temps. It was near 100 on the 4th so we were very happy to use the Jensen's above ground pool.

The guys

Bria, Reese, and Jax in a choo choo train 


My favoritest guy ever

Sweet Ames with his cousin, Kailey

He loves his mama

Seriously, that smile is beyond precious

Reese hitchin' a ride


Grandma Anna and Ames
Now, we all knew that the next day Jenny would be induced. The family did not know her name though...except me :) Which I had kept a secret because if they knew I knew, they would hassle me. How did I know? Years and years ago I gave Jenny some truth serum (aka, alcohol) and plucked her names out of her brain. 
So the family finds out I know and man oh man it was on. They would not let up, especially Lance. He was determined to find out. After quite a while he finally guessed the letter...Z. Once he got it he went on his phone to figure it out. Then loudly shouted...ZOEY! It's ZOEY!!! 
I haven't seen him that excited in a long time, he was ecstatic and so was the whole family. It was such a fun way to find out the name and of course we all love it. 

The girls couldn't wait for the fireworks to come out. We kept busy with swimming and rousing game of baseball. Then finally it was dark enough for glow sticks and fireworks...

The headphones were perfect for our girls who have an aversion to loud noises.


Nice photo bomb Schuyler!

After a long day of fun and even longer evening, the girls crashed hard...