Family Reunion - Sunday and Monday

Two years ago, Mike's family all got together in Hilton Head, SC for a week.  It was the first time in four years that everyone had gotten together, we had had another baby since then, and the kids had all changed tremendously and barely knew each other.  We decided at that point that we all needed to make the effort to get together more often, and picked every two years as the time frame.

So here we are, two years later, and we've rented the same house for the week.  The kids have all matched themselves up again as if they'd never been apart and the adults are all loving the opportunity to hang out and relax for a while.  The weather is gorgeous, the water is warm, and the house fits all of us comfortably with room to get away from the crowd if we want.

We flew into Savannah, Georgia yesterday (a really lovely little airport - I highly recommend it if you get the chance to fly out this way) after leaving the house at 4:00 in the morning.  It was a long day, but everyone did really well on the trip, with the exception of our youngest wetting her pants on the plane (I did actually pack a change of clothes for her, so it wasn't tragic, just seriously annoying).  The kids were in the pool as soon as we'd let them and stayed in until we dragged them out for dinner.  We all went to bed very late, but considering the time change, it wasn't surprising.

The kids were all up early this morning and in the pool right away.  I think they had breakfast, but I'm not really sure since I got the chance to sleep in - yay!  Mike's brother-in-law, nephew, and I went to a local gym after we had all eaten and got memberships for the week.  I ran five miles while they did weights.  It was a great way to start the week and I'll hopefully be able to keep up with my workouts for the rest of the week.  When we got back, the older kids were in the ocean boogie-boarding and our youngest was still in the pool.  I think, in all, our kids were in the water for about six hours today.  They should easily have gills by the end of the week.

Today was Mike's brother-in-law's birthday, so we all went out to dinner to celebrate.  It's always interesting to go to a restaurant with fifteen people.  The kids all did well, though, and there weren't any "incidents" over the course of the meal.  I do have to say, the hushpuppies were awesome and my escargot was really tasty.  You just don't get hushpuppies at restaurants in California, so it was fun to revisit my memories of eating out from my childhood.  The kids all went to bed right after dinner - the big  benefit of them swimming for most of the day!

And we've just had the opportunity to watch the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs!  Being the Giants, it had to come down to the bitter end, but it was incredibly exciting to see them pull it off!