Best Beach Day Ever ....

This past Tuesday I was able to take my nieces and nephew to the beach one last time before school starts next week.  This beach trip was a lot more exciting because we were able to join up with my 6 other sweet nieces who were vacationing at the beach … well they aren’t really my nieces BUT they do all call me Aunt Amy and I am proud to claim each and every one of them!!  When we arrived at the Matheny condo we were able to watch the dolphins swim for a bit which was pretty awesome!!  Once everyone was “rounded up” and got their sunscreen on we hit the beach ….

We had a pretty awesome surfing instructor amongst us … Bridgett worked with any of the kids who wanted to try it.  I didn’t get any pictures BUT Hayley and Jake BOTH were able to get up on the surfboard … I was so proud of them.  The water was perfect – it wasn’t too rough - so that they could really learn how to stand up on the surfboard without being afraid and having the waves beat them up.

Some of the other kids got bored while the surfing lessons were going on … so Jake came up with the idea that they should bury him in the sand … so they did!!  I can’t even begin to tell you how well these 9 kids get along … and the part that I LOVE the most is that Jake is the ONLY guy but it DOES NOT bother him one bit!!  Between the beach and the pool the kids were able to play hard and have LOTS of fun!! 

The best part of the day for me is always the ride there and back ... I enjoy spending time with Brooke, Hayley and Jake  … just listening to them talk about whatever THEY want to talk about … after all it is all about them isn’t it?  We were all so tired on the way home … Brooke was trying to sleep and I made the comment to her that I was too tired to drive and I thought SHE needed to drive us home … I then told the kids a story about one time when Brooke was little she had been with me for the day … I was taking her home and she kept dozing off in her car seat so I would say or do something to keep her from falling asleep because we were only about 5 minutes away from her house and I knew if she fell asleep she would NEVER stay asleep once she got home AND then she would be cranky … so when I got to the end of their small dead-end road I got Brooke out of her car seat and sat her in my lap and told her to help me drive … she looked up at me with the most serious look on her face and said “Do you think that is a good idea Maymie?”  So that story led in to why Brooke called me Maymie … I explained to the kids that each of them at one point called me Maymie … the best we could tell was they were trying to say “Aunt Amy” and it came out “Maymie” … eventually Maymie became Aunt Amy.  So the rest of the way home the kids kept asking to hear stories … so I would tell a story about one of them and then one of the others would ask to hear a story about their self …  I love that family is so important to them ....

Here are some pics from the day … please note that the CRAZY pictures are because Hayley and Jake entertained themselves with my camera on the way there and back …