Let the Carlsbad pictures begin . . .

We had the whole clan at the Beatsch house for the week of 4th of July. That's a lot of kids and adults in a condo for a week, but it was remarkably fun. We partied with neighbors, visited various amusement type places, went to a Padres game, and of course, the beach. I took a few hundred pictures, of course, but don't worry, I won't post all of them. Just the best of the best or the cutest of the cutest. I have a Abi-heavy (no pun intended) load because that girl was so darn cute all week. She has the entire family wrapped around her squishy little finger.

It was a great week, the cousins all got along well, and I even have slightly tan legs. Very slightly, but I'm thrilled nonetheless.

Chaucney is how old???

I can't tell you how many of my friends say that now. They remember Chauncey when he was 4 and 5, and I'd take him places with me and he'd charm the pants off of everyone around. He was the cutest little guy ever. Now he is 16 and not so little anymore, and my sweet nephew is just about a grown up. He still is the cutest guy ever, and very charming.

Here are a few pictures from his 16th birthday party. We had cousins and barbecue and swimming at our house, and it was fun. The only downside was that Hayden missed it. He and Papa were stuck in the Atlanta airport for 12 hours, so they didn't arrive in phx. until midnight.

Happy Birthday, Chauncey! You are loved!!!

Grandkid Soup

All 7 grandkids in the hottub at Grandma's and Grandpa's last week. Chauncey is such a good big cousin. Abi was jumping around and squealing but he kept a tight hold and didn't lose her once.

Rocket Launch

I thought these were cool pictures from my birthday dinner at Grandma's last week. The 7 grandkids all got into the pool, even though it was a bit chilly- such great weather this June! Chauncey and Hayden were having fun on the diving rock.

Yuck.

AC took Hayden fishing while in Prescott last weekend. They caught nary a fish, but managed to catch 42 Crawdads. I remember catching crawdads when I was little, and it was a lot of fun. So I understood that part. We did not, however, EAT the crawdads we caught. Yup, that's right. My husband and son decided to cook 'em up and have a little crawdad fest. AC looked up a few recipes online, then proceeded to boil alive the little critters. I reminded him that Crawdads were bottom dwellers- who knows what they ingest. He was not deterred.
Hayden ate 6 or 7 of them, and said they weren't bad. He even made me try one. Not my favorite thing. He was proud of his catch, and its nice to know we could catch our dinner if we can't afford groceries.

Chloe and Ellie wisely chose not to participate in the feast. Chloe did pick one up, and was a very brave little girl. Don't they look disgusting pre-cooking?

This is pretty much why I don't eat seafood. It retains its full pre-food shape up until you rip its head off. I'm proud of Hayden for trying new things and all, but all I can say is

YUCK!

Girlalicious

Chloe and Ellie got new dresses from Target this weekend, and they decided to be . . . PINKALICIOUS and PURPLELICIOUS!!

They had Pink and Purple everything- dresses, headbands, clippies . . . even underwear!

They of course had to practice their twirls as well.

Hayden decided he wanted to join in, and even though there isn't a book called "Redilicious", that's what he was. He even came up with "Girlalicious" and then "Kidalicious" for when he was in the picture. Clever, no?

My Twirling Sea Nymph

I have picture after picture of Ellie dancing, singing and princess-ing at the beach.

This is a very lovely ballet move . . . followed by an extra large twirly-twirl . . .

and a counter-twirl . . .

not sure what this one was, but it was beautiful.

These pictures don't give the complete scene, since you can't hear the coordinating songs (made up by Ellie on the spot) and the La-di-das. She was truly in a world of her own; a beautiful, music-filled princess world.