Sharp Family Reunion

We are so grateful that our kids and I were able to attend the Sharp family reunion this year in Corolla, North Carolina!!  With my parents, five siblings, and 20 nieces and nephews, I did not want my kids or I to miss out on the fun this year.  It was perfect that the reunion correlated with our time at home for medevac.  Being 37 weeks pregnant, I was very worried about the 12 hours of driving, but we made a bed of sleeping bags and pillows in the back seat of a suburban and I slept quite comfortably most of the way to and from the beach!  We were so bummed that Chris couldn't make it.  The biggest bummer was that he didn't get to see our kids having the time of their lives!  But, luckily, we will have many more reunions in the years to come!  We were overwhelmed by generous and loving help from many family members!

Allie and Emily Biddison were two of Wendy's favorite people! They played with her often and helped with meals, bedtimes, baths, the car ride, and everything in between.  She sure loves these two!

Where did Wendy go?  I can't believe she let them cover her in sand.

Kyle was thrilled that he could throw and dig in the sand as much as he wanted and that he could chase the waves!  He would wander around in the water and then fall down on purpose so he could splash in the water and giggle like crazy!

The backyard of our house was a huge sand volleyball court with three plastic play grounds.  The kids loved the slides and climbing around.  Kyle mostly just loved the sand!

Kyle got a little overwhelmed by the commotion at times.  There were allot of people to watch! Sometimes he was just happy to be on mommy's lap. He did love it when someone read a book to him though!

This pit doesn't seem very deep from the pictures, but from far away, we couldn't even see the heads of any of the kids playing in the pit.  Usually they had lots of kids coming in and out of the pit to play with them.  They loved it!!

Someone is ready for a nap!

The beach definitely wore out this little guy!

Wendy was such a little social butterfly! She loved playing with everyone!

I had to document this moment.  My sister Brittany (second from the left) has a huge fear of the ocean and is sure she will someday be eaten by a shark.  So, she usually doesn't go in the ocean past her ankles.  One day she decided to give it a try and we all went crazy with our cameras! Go Britt!!

Wendy loved going in the water or playing in the sand with Aunt Emily!

Wendy cuddling with Uncle Adam and chillin with Aunt Sarena and Aunt Angie!

The boys took a break from the water to dig. Wendy was helping.

Kyle often tried to sneak sips of salt water when no one was watching.  I was just happy that he was scooping it up with his hands instead of trying to put his face in the waves and get a gulp (like he did the first day).

This bucket has no bottom. It must go on my foot.

Digging.

A mini pool for one? Awesome!

Catching some waves with Aunt Emily and Amber.

I guess two one year olds can share the hold for one.  We were all shocked at how well Kyle and Ashlynn played together for both being one! They even had some good conversations!

Our rental house was a few blocks from the beach.  We were so lucky that it had this rickety wagon at the house! We were able to haul boogie boards, buckets, shovels, and especially my kids to and from the beach more easily!

Sand, sand sand! YAY!

Filling up the buckets with Grandma

Jumping waves with Uncle Adam!

Kyle walking with Grandma

Shovels work great for getting water in your mouth.

Shells work too...

Boogie boarding! What a brave girl!!

Thank you so much to my fabulous family for making our trip to the beach such a blast! I definitely could not have managed this trip without all of the help we received and I really really appreciate it! We already can't wait for our next reunion!!