Summer Tour Stop 9 - Crab Feast

 Stop 9 on our Summer Tour was Charles Town, WV to Matt and Tiff's house for the Annual Crab Feast!  In recent months it has also been called Crab Fest and Crabapolooza by certain parties (ahem, Kristi and Rich).  While it was a blast - it was also the same crazy weekend of the big summer storm that knocked out power all over the place!  It was scheduled for Saturday afternoon and Friday night the power went out!  Matt and Tiff graciously hosted Mom Mom and Pappy, us, Tim and Sara's family, Aunt Sheri, Uncle Chuck and Aunt Peggi, Rich and Kristi and Josh at their house....without power, or running water for toilets, or a/c on a 94F day!  We were all very thankful for their pool and the fun bonfire later that night - as well as the yummy crabs!   

All the girls and Michael did a fashion show for us!  Megan was the MC and they did a great job - Michael was a Ninja, so it was a good "boy" idea for the fashion show among princesses, ballerinas and the like!

 Laura strutting her stuff

 Kylie posing quickly before exiting

 Josh and Jack got to watch (i.e. we made them)

 Sammi dressed as a mermaid :)

 Mikey the Ninja!

With Cowboy boots on!

 Megan and Sammi

 Laura as a princess

 Five Girls

Hannah, Megan, Laura, Kylie and Sammi

 I tried to get a picture of the kiddos...but Sammi fell asleep a split second (literally!) before I took it and Mikey didn't want to be in it...

 Proof

 After the crabs were demolished, we gathered to do a bonfire!

 Kristi and Josh (aka the Bride and Groom as Mom Mom kept calling them) were so cute!  They were super fun with our kids in the pool and then were so cute to see them talking by themselves, jumping on the trampoline together and then lounging in the hammock

Beautiful picture of Megan (and me)

 We had a talent show for anyone who wanted to do something!  Hannah and Mikey did Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

 Caroline played her recorder

 The Crowd

 Timmy

Adorable sweet little boy!  He was so much fun to hold and play with!

 

 Dan and Megan singing "Lord I lift Your Name on High"

 Pappy and Sammi did a duck quacking song

 Sweet picture of Sara and Timmy

 Rachel

 Lucie

 Josh and Dan (and the rest of the guys) were trying to get the bonfire going

 Josh played his guitar

 Laura and Pappy in coordinating outfits

 The Hokie Pokey

 Hannah and Matt

 My Favoritest Tweeter

I love this picture!

 Matt made up songbooks and lead us in a hymn sing!

 The whole group!

 Josh and Dan

S'mores at the end...Dan made a cool stand to rest your sticks on!  They were a hit with the kiddos!

Summer Tour Stop 8 - Perry Hall, MD

 Phew!  We got to visit Mom Mom and Pappy in Perry Hall for 2 nights!  They had special times planned for us - yummy dinners (homemade fresh scallops and Outback!), yummy breakfasts, ice cream sundaes, a trip to the park, some much needed shopping that we had to do for school uniforms, the purchasing of an iPod Touch for them, going through some treasures from Dan's grandparent's, movie night and just hanging out! We loved our time with them!!!

 Pappy and Kylie bustin' a move :)

 Goofin' off

 Having fun!

 

 Ice Cream Sundaes!  Mom Mom asked what kind of dessert would be a treat - we said ice cream!  And definitely didn't expect all the amazing toppings they also treated us with!

Watching a movie while eating ice cream!

 

 Mom Mom and Pappy at the playground

 Our Family

Megan, Pappy and Jack pretending Jack was a marionette!

Summer Tour Stop 7 - Corolla, NC

We went to the Outer Banks with my family this summer for a week!  Corolla, NC was our destination and we had a great time!  It was an eventful week - the first day we were there the water was really rough with red flags up for rip tides - which meant no swimming.  We went to the beach anyway to put our feet in the water and play in the sand.  While hanging around with our feet in the water, Dan and I noticed a little boy getting tumbled by waves and sucked out by a rip tide.  No one else was really around down by the water, so we scanned for his parents, but didn't seen anyone.  Dan called for the lifeguard and I started running into the water to get him!  He was maybe 6 years old and crying while getting sucked out.  I screamed for the lifeguard and then went out past the first set of breakers and eventually caught up to him!  Thankfully, he reached out for me and didn't fuss with me carrying him back to shore.  The lifeguard met me at the waters edge and then the mom came running and sobbing, once she realized it was her child that was out there. Thankfully the kid was fine!  Bleh - it was crazy, but I'm glad he's safe!  

We had fun swimming in the pool, playing Kinect (Just Dance 3 and Kinect Sports were the highlights), watching The Help and Tim Hawkins, playing Batman Lego 2 (Max said, "Ohhh, Lex Luthor!  He's part of the Legion of Doom!"), doing the Hot Tub, going out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant, eating yummy food and playing Around the World Ping Pong!

Kylie had some sort of stomach bug from Wednesday afternoon until after we left...but all in all, it was a good time!

 Dan and Brian dancing to Just Dance 3's Apache :)

 Cole, Jack and Max bustin a move on Pump It!

 Meggie and Mary Kate getting their nails done...in tankinis...that belong to Mary Kate :)

 Jack and Cole

 Grandad bowling on the Kinect!  He won with 3 strikes in a row!  A turkey!

 Beautiful girlies - we kept joking that they had an apartment downstairs in their own room - they had all their clothes in their room, their toothbrushes and a tv to watch the Disney channel and the Food Network!

 All the cousins with popsicles!

 And I love this picture of them from behind!

 Max posing for me when I said, "Can you smile for me?" 

:)

The boys watching a Super Friends on the iPad

 

 Sweet picture of Max

 And his rather LARGE popsicle from the Ice Cream Man, courtesy of Uncle Dan

 Everyone's favorite choices

 Hot tubbing!

 Fun hair on the boys

Abby's best friend Maddie got to spend 1 night with us while we were there!  I had fun out in the waves with Maddie, Abby and Hannah :)

 Grammy, Grandad and the grandkids

 Sarah, Max and Brian

 Our Family

 Hannah, Mark, Heather, Cole, Abby and Mary Kate

 The Whole Crew

 Grammy and Grandad...in ECU colors

 Uncle Dan and Max dancing

 The girlies back from the beach and ready for lunch!

 Napping on the couch with Grammy

 Grammy and Grandad in his fun ECU blanket

 Sarah and I chatting while others play the Kinect

 Hannah and Kylie

 Abby and Kylie

 Me, Heather and Sarah

Dan set up an afternoon where just the adults went to the beach for an hour - it was so fun to swim without having to count heads and make sure everyone was okay after each wave...granted the waves were really small that day, but it was fun nonetheless!

 Fist of Rock!

 Around the World Ping Pong with the whole crew!  It was sooooo much fun!  

The Cheering Section

 

Uncle Dan and Max :)