We're at Aspen Grove. And it would be an understatement to say that we are loving it here.
Bear Lake is over...already fading into rich memories. And it would be even more of an understatement to say that we sure adored it there.
We packed up and drove away last Saturday after 21 days of beach life.
It's amazing how being at the beach can still be so full. I mean, it seems like you should just be sitting under an umbrella watching the clouds and helping build sandcastles. And, well, although we did that very thoroughly, boy howdy we sure packed in some other stuff too.
Amidst the daily ritual of greasing up 13-24 kids with suntan lotion, trying to keep up with the "revolving door" of guests and extended family showing up, trying to keep so many mouths fed, and cleaned up after, reading book after book with kids, doing P90X every morning with all the sisters, having three different reunions with extended family, we sure packed in a lot.
The kids caught all kinds of flying/creeping things...(although no rattlesnake this year):
We water skied like nobody's business. 
Don't you love these faces?
Grace and Max are our skiers in our family. Elle won't touch skis with a ten-foot pole. Hmmmm. I wonder if that's because we FORCED her to do it last year. Maybe she's scarred for life because of her parents. Some day we'll redeem ourselves and she'll become a skier extraordinaire, but for now Max and Grace are our stars.
She even got up on one ski this year...for about four seconds. But hey, she was up.
Max is more of a wake boarder. 
...and he loved wake boarding behind the jet skis this year.
We love to "ski on the gold" at sunset. One of my favorite things ever.
(I love how the water looks on that above picture.)
We rode horses:
My parents took "Group 1" of the grandkids on a three-day motor home trip to Jackson Hole:
They were in pure HEAVEN...especially since they got to go to the midnight showing of Harry Potter on their last night.
We jet skied:
...and spent a bunch of time on the "Big Mama:"
(Big Mama pictures are my FAVORITE...especially when my Mom's involved.)
We had visits from dear friends:
And spent so much time stuffing food in children's mouths:
We took our annual trip to hike into Bloomington Lake:
Where we soaked up the rope swing.
We buried each other in the sand:
We hung out with Aunts and Uncles who are amazing influences on our kids:
We built sandcastles by the dozens:
Elle took care of every baby she could get her hands on...so did Grace:
We read stories after stories:
We flew kites:
We drank spinach smoothies like they were going out of style:
We chased the waves:
We bonded: (even my competitive girls)
We had a sleep-over with "Grandma Great" in Logan:
Lu tried to set a new trend on beach wear (my sis-in-law let her borrow a gorgeous outfit):
...somehow I'm thinking that's not gonna catch on.
We played the candy bar game:
We had extended cousin bonding:
And we had our big reunion when everyone finally arrived.
24th of July beach games:
Annual mixed doubles tennis tournament (no, my brother doesn't usually have a mohawk, just a reunion thing):
We made all kinds of banners for my sister who came home from her mission smack-dab in the middle of the reunion:
We're SO happy to have her home.
Ok, too many pictures. But hey, that's narrowed down from 2,562 of them, so that's pretty good if you ask me!Labels: Eyres, vacation
We water skied like nobody's business. 
Don't you love these faces?
She even got up on one ski this year...for about four seconds. But hey, she was up.
Max is more of a wake boarder. 
(I love how the water looks on that above picture.)
They were in pure HEAVEN...especially since they got to go to the midnight showing of Harry Potter on their last night.
...and spent a bunch of time on the "Big Mama:"
(Big Mama pictures are my FAVORITE...especially when my Mom's involved.)
We had visits from dear friends:
And spent so much time stuffing food in children's mouths:
We took our annual trip to hike into Bloomington Lake:
Where we soaked up the rope swing.
We buried each other in the sand:
We built sandcastles by the dozens:
Elle took care of every baby she could get her hands on...so did Grace:
We read stories after stories:
We flew kites:
We chased the waves:
We bonded: (even my competitive girls)
We had a sleep-over with "Grandma Great" in Logan:
Lu tried to set a new trend on beach wear (my sis-in-law let her borrow a gorgeous outfit):
...somehow I'm thinking that's not gonna catch on.
We had extended cousin bonding:
24th of July beach games:
Annual mixed doubles tennis tournament (no, my brother doesn't usually have a mohawk, just a reunion thing):
We made all kinds of banners for my sister who came home from her mission smack-dab in the middle of the reunion:
We're SO happy to have her home.