Easter Weekend

We went down to my parents this past weekend. Originally the intent was because my dad had a birthday this month, but when I checked the calendar, I realized it was also Easter weekend. Bonus!

I'll include the gift he got at the end of the post because I really liked it.

We went to the beach Saturday morning (mostly to play in the sand - the adults didn't even bother putting on swimsuits - it was cool and overcast). I do have a few crazy children though, and they insisted on playing in the ocean. (I would only let them go up to their ankles due to a posted warning sign.)

My pictures aren't super awesome in clarity - I didn't want to take my nice camera to a windy sandy beach, so they're all phone pictures. (And of course I tried to zoom in more than I should have.)

Overcast is my favorite sky condition. (Rainy is 2nd favorite and sunny comes in dead last!)

Alee was very diligent in making her sand castle perfect.

Makeshift balance beam we found.

 Granddaddy even jumped on!

 Mud Pies

 A pirate dance. (Perhaps I should include the video of Carolyn and Seth acting like crazy pirates!)

 Three of my kids found this awesome starfish and "aggravated it" (picked it up to inspect it more closely over and over again, until Rob said, Enough- Throw it back.)

Yes, we had to try the pool too. My parents' neighborhood pool opened this weekend.
Carolyn took one cannonball and said that was enough!

 Some of the others have no problem with cold water...I guess it's all those cold showers after one of the others has used up all the hot water! :)

 Grammy died eggs with them while Rob and I ran some errands (including buying paint for the girls' room...pictures of that by the end of the week.) My dad didn't like the "baked" egg (pinterest idea to bake them in a muffin pan in the oven for 30 minutes) and said we should label it a Pinterest Fail! My kids didn't noticed the difference when they ate them other than a few dark spots where it probably burned against the pans.

I interviewed my granddad to ask him about his life. I'm working on editing the video now to add in titles and cut out the in between question times. I can't wait to get the rest of my grandparents lives on video. My brothers and I are working on this project together. It was really fun and funny to hear the stories and memories and feelings.

Ready for church.

 So cute matching.

 Glad no one was sick this time so that we could all enjoy the time!

(I blurred out my dad and his siblings names and birthdays; didn't know if they'd want that floating around the internet or if they cared?) Isn't it neat? I've really enjoyed working on these for my family and feel like I know them a little better after seeing pictures. (Thanks to my dad's sister, my aunt, for collecting and scanning these pictures for me.)