Gattuso Beach Vacation

Knowing that the baby is coming and I am running out of time to procrastinate, I forced myself to go through the 2500 pictures from our vacation. I couldn't even bring myself to look through the pictures we copied from other family members, there were just too many. That's what happens when 25 people head to the beach and live under the same roof for a week! Nevertheless there are still smiles on everyones faces.

The girls and Michael had been talking about the Gattuso Beach Vacation for the past year when we scheduled it. Keep in mind this is the first real "vacation" we had all year and Michael was pretty excited. Izzy went to the beach when she was about 4 months old and had no memory of it and it was Katelyn's first time. Here they are packed and ready to go for the 11 hour car ride to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina!



As a little kid we played "who stole the cookie from the cookie jar" at Beck family reunions. My parents were keeping up the tradition teaching it to their grandchildren





Have I mentioned there were 13 grandchildren? Sharese put together these shirts. We figured there might be number 14 and 15 on the way but their "numbers" will never change :)



We kept plenty busy feeding the horses



Lots of eating...Tyler and Ryan had a crab eating contest at an all you can eat crab night. The winner said, the sickness he felt afterwards was not worth it. Good thing I carry Tums on a regular basis, huh Ryan?




Everyone rented bikes and the girls and Michael actually refused to take the car certain places and enjoyed their travel this way. I think I would have liked that too! I did get in my daily bike ride but I must admit I wasn't as enthusiastic as Michael and the girls.



The traditional stop at The Salty Dog Cafe





Going to the lighthouse (the girls and Michael climbed all the way to the top with 110 steps)



We can't forget the "No Talent, Talent Show"

The girls were backup singers to Neil Sedaka's Breaking up is Hard to Do, with Michael as the main singer. I was "offstage" helping them with their dance moves :)



Of course there was plenty of beach time....EVERYDAY :) The girls were in heaven!





It was a short walk to the beach but we were very glad for Michael and the wagon. Cakes had to find a spot among all of our "stuff"










I'm pretty sure a great time was had by all!



I'm glad they love each other most of the time. They are growing up too fast!

Nana & Papa dates

My parents came home and starting making up for some lost time with all the grandkids. There are 13 grandchildren currently so you can imagine when my parents returned everyone wanted some time with them. My parents decided to take each child on a "Nana & Papa Date". They all drew numbers so they knew what order to go in. When Isabelle drew her number she looked at the paper and saw a number one and her response was a huge smile and said, "YES, I knew I could do it!" I think she thought she won the grand prize and she was the only one having the date. Either way it was cute. For her date she decided she wanted to go to a place called Otterville. It is educational entertainment center typically for younger children and there is lots to do there. Apparently I don't take her as often as she would like to go so she knew that's where she wanted Nana & Papa to go with her and she decided she wanted to bring her sister so she could have a friend to play with.

Sorry about the pictures they are all from a phone but I just couldn't resist showing how much fun the girls were having.

First thing's first, feeding hungry bellies



Then off to the face painting station which they LOVE. Mom tends to monitor this one closely but with Nana and Papa they had free reign this time!



Exploring the water



Then making a little time to do ballet



A puppet show for Nana & Papa



Then Isabelle the Doctor starting doing a check-up on Papa (you can see in the back that Katelyn didn't want to leave the water area...another thing that Mom controls when she's there, so she was living it up)





Katelyn showing Papa her fabulous drawing skills



My mom sent me this last picture on my phone and it said "just like mom". My response was, "Yes, I always wear a dress and heels to the grocery store!"



They had a great time spending some one on one with Nana & Papa (not to mention that I got a lot done at home without them!) Thanks Nana & Papa!