AMI Until Next Year

There were so many great memories from our vacation. One of Mom's favorite was having her big 40th birthday. She said 40 is the new 30, and she doesn't feel "old", so it wasn't a big deal. She and Dad had a date dinner at their favorite restaurant.

They loved walking back to the house to find the babysitters snuggled up sound asleep with me and Ryan.

We were happy to simply spend time with our Boston family.

Mom was incredibly relieved at how well the week went. She still has PTSD from our spring break trip to New Hampshire when Ryan was sick, not sleeping, and evil. And she refers to AMI 2013 as Sleepless Croup Week. We've learned that the key to any "good" "vacation" with kids depends on how the week goes for the youngest of the bunch. 

First of all, Ryan can't help the fact that he is in the volatile 3-year-old phase. So it's not his fault when he spews hot molten lava rage any time he is sick, tired, or hungry. Luckily, this week nobody got sick, and everybody slept well in their cool bunk beds. It was miraculous, really. 

Ryan was an angel. All of the swimming and beach play helped him nap well during the day and sleep like a rock at night. So, we got to spend the week with sweet, funny, awesome Ryan. And, of course, I was my usual sweet, funny, loving, awesome 6-year-old self. 

This week made us hopeful that our future family vacations can all be this fun. Until then, we will keep looking at these beach pictures and cracking up.

Nobody has more fun than these people!

We love them so much!

#QuinnChristmascard2014

We love them for being silly with us,

and we can't wait to see them again!

AMI Hav'Anna Hideaway

Thanks to the bounty of Pinterest and The Dollar Store, we had crafts every day. We loved the marshmallow toothpick skyskrapers, and Christmas ornaments and frames decorated with shells. You know it's going to be a good week when your Mom packs the glue gun.

We decided to have a big birthday party to celebrate the kids since we can't be together on all of our birthdays during the year. 

We can't wait to add Baby Quinn to the family birthday list in December! Both Ryan and I hope Joy Joy and Mike have a boy, just to balance out all of this estrogen. 

My personal favorite game at the house was our Cheese Puff Toss. 

It was seriously awesome. 

You just spray shaving cream all over your head, 

And see which team can toss the most cheese puffs onto each other's head.

It only works if you can stop laughing long enough to aim the Cheese Puff!

Aunt Julie discovered a new adventure hobby that we are excited to try next year. Paddle boarding. It's officially a craze down here. It's like the 2014 version of in-line skating.

You have to have serious core strength and balance to make your way across the currents.

We're hoping Julie will take us all for a ride on the paddle board next year!

AMI Family Dinner

Every year Nana and Papa like to dress up and take the family out to dinner.

This time we thought it would be fun to play a joke on Big Mike by having these on when he came downstairs for dinner.

We totally should have worn them to the restaurant.

We like to get to dinner by 5:00, to give us plenty of time to eat before Sweet Boy turns into Raging Lunatic.

I like these pictures from Papa, paparazzi style.

This is our first family photo with everybody in it, and we're excited for next year when Baby Quinn will be in it too!

AMI Selfies

Let this be The Year of The Selfie. We love this girl.

AMI Sunsets

The nights on the beach were one of my favorite parts of the vacation. 

Especially because Dad bought this Bolo set on an impulse at Walmart the day before we came down. The game brought out the competitive animals in these two.

Even Kalyn turned into a trash-talking intimidator on the Bolo court. 

Papa's taunting did not derail my winning streak.

It was fun to watch Ryan play ball with the boys on the beach. We wish we could have more nights like this all year!

I think Ryan surprised Papa with his intensity at first.

This kid is not messing around!