A rare picture of Matt and me! And guess who is behind the camera. . .sweet, little Madeline. She loves taking pictures. Mommy is thinking of buying her a camera for her birthday or Christmas.
Daddy and Maddie enjoy some sweet time together on the beach. They both love little critters and spend large chunks of time digging in the sand for fiddler and sand crabs. Our girlie, girl has no problem picking these creatures up and letting them walk up and down her arms and legs. Her brother is another story. Though he loves the crabs, he squeals like a girl if one is placed on his body.
Watch out Michael Phelps. . .Ryan Wells is on your tail. The boy LOVES the pool. He prefers it even to the ocean. Out on the beach he consistently asked me when we were going to the pool. And he wants nothing to do with his floaties. The boy wants to swim on his own. Even after heartily coughing up pool water (when I say heartily, I mean gagging on it), he is ready to go back under. Matt and I are both a bit frightened of dry drowning so we NEVER put him to bed after pool time.
Maddie and Ry LOVE playing together in the sand.
The girlie beach bums. Emmy, Maddie, and Kate-Kate cuddle together on a chair. Many times during the week the three girls shared this chair. These three girls, plus Ryan filled our beach house with giggles.
Here's our tough guy in a tractor. He's warming up before going out on the race track.
Here's Maddie performing her pre-race warm-up. Daddy treated us to go-carting during a rainy day at the beach. I must confess that I was dragging my feet when Matt told me we were going go-carting. I just did not think it would be family fun, BUT. . .I was wrong. It was one of the best 10 minutes of our vacation. Maddie and I rode in one car while Ry and Daddy rode in another. Though Matt is a much better go-carter than me, he still let me lap him and bump him a few times. Madeline thought we beat him and she was ecstatic. Little did she know that if she was not in the car with me and if Ry was not in the car with Daddy, Mommy would have been far from winning and would probably have needed rescuing after being spun off the track. 
Our little Ry-guy. Oh. . .he is too stinking cute!!! This picture is so him. Both he and Madeline are so joyful.
I tear up almost every time I look at this picture. It is so precious and captures the sweet father-son relationship that Matt and Ryan share. The boy loves his daddy, and Daddy is in love with his tough, sweet boy.
Mommy and Maddie love their time together at the beach. One of my best memories is taking walks through the waves to collect shells. And before I forget, I must record a sweet story from a shopping event. We were in a store and I had to go to the bathroom. Upon finding the bathroom, I told Madeline we would have to go elsewhere because it was disgusting and I really needed to use the bathroom. My sweet girl looked up at me and said, "Don't worry Mommy, you can go like this and it will help you". She proceeded to place both of her hands between her legs and look up at me waiting for me to do the same. It was so sweet and funny because she was genuinely trying to offer me valuable advice.
Sweet and beautiful friends--Lanie and Christy.
Our best friends, Bobby and Lanie. We love them so much. They are both so fun and caring and thoughtful. It pains me that we live so far away.
Yes, it's Sarah II. Some of you may be wondering, "what in the world were you thinking getting another hermit crab". You may remember stories of Sarah 1 hanging from Ryan's lip, pinching Madeline's fingers, getting lost under the coaches, escaping from her cage, and biting the dust on a cold November night (when Daddy was on a business trip and Mommy had to take care of the dead, stinky crustacean). How could we say NO to our sweet children. . .I mean, check out how cute this crab is! And, do you know how much free time it gives Matt and I to hang out together. The kids love taking Sarah out of her cage and playing with her for up to 30 minutes at a time. It's the gift that keeps on giving!!!
Maddie and Daddy love their beach time together. They really bond searching for shells and crabs together.
Ry enjoys feeling the sand between his toes. I love this picture of him. Can you tell that our sweet, pudgy baby is thinning out!? I guess that's what happens when you're about to turn 3.
Check out the blond beauties in their pink bathing suites.
Daddy, Mr. Chip, and Uncle Bobby dig a big hole for the children.
The fam.
Maddie and Daddy just chillin.
Emmy and Maddie in bed together. The girls got to share a room together at the beach this summer. One of my best memories is waking up to singing at 5am. Half-awake, I stumbled into their room and found Emmy sitting straight up in her bed, singing a song at the top of her lungs. I told her that it was too early to wake up, but I don't think the girls went back to sleep after I left the room. Maddie and Emmy are so sweet together. They are both fun and sensitive.
My tough guy, taking on the waves. He likes to get bowled over by them and kick them and run from them. Once we hit the sand on the beach, he does not stop moving until we return to the beach house.
Surprisingly, Ryan and Emmy became great friends and playmates this week. They played lots of pretend games together and had fun running from sand spot to sand spot drawing pictures. Watch out Nate, I think Ry might be moving in on your territory. :)
Maddie and Emmy in their movie star sunglasses.
Mommy and her Ry-guy.
Me, Lanie, and Christy. Our times of fellowship were so special. One of my best memories from this vacation is taking a walk down the beach with these ladies and praying with each other and for each other. It was such an uplifting and encouraging time, and truly drew us nearer to the Lord and each other.
Daddy and Ry working hard to dig the hole.
Daddy, Mr. Chip, and Uncle Bobby transformed our sweet babes into mermaids and mermen. 
Madeline and Aunt Lanie. Aunt Lanie is such a special part of our lives. No, she not a biological aunt, but she and Uncle Bobby are just like family to us. Aunt Lanie is fun, caring, funny, energetic, and godly. She rarely stops smiling or ministering to people.
Daddy and Maddie search for sand fiddlers. This year, Daddy managed to surprise Mommy by "housing" one of the crabs in Mommy's bathing suite. You got me Daddy!!!
Maddie and Emmy drawing together in the sand.
Our last morning together at Stack'm High. . .Lanie, me and Christy. It was so hard to leave, as our week together had been so good and special.
Maddie, Kate, Emmy, and Ry wait in line for yummy pancakes.
Emmy and Maddie loving each other.
Mr. Chip playing with the kids in the water. I think they were dancing in the waves.
Has anyone seen Mr. Chip?
1 comment:
Another wonderful vicarious trip to the beach! Great photos! By all means get Madeline a camera! I love the 5-year-old perspective.
Love to all,
Mom/Grandma
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