Our annual Andros Family Beach trip was August 9-16 this year. We went to the same town and same house as last year, in Waldport, Oregon.
The first walk on the beach is always the most exciting for the kids! We did it right as the sun was setting. It was windy and cold but the kids loved it!
Ben, demonstrating his mad hand-stand skills!
The next day, Sunday, we went to the Waldport Branch just a few miles from our rental house. We pretty much doubled the amount of people there. This year we had 29 people!
Sweet baby Grant fell asleep during Sacrament meeting on his dad's chest. Isn't he adorable?
After church, before anyone could get too homely looking, we decided to get some quick family photos on the beach. (As quick as 16 will allow...)
Group shot of all 29 of us!
The original 6 Andros kids!
Recreating a shot they took years ago, before anyone was married.
Papa and Nana- where it all started!
The 16 grandchildren!
All the girls spent lots of time this year doing spa treatments: manicures, pedicures, etc. They did them on each other, and also enlisted any willing adult.
Nana's turn!
Chloe gave me a fabulous foot massage (after a nice foot soak), and then a pedicure.
Even Ben participated. Real men get pedicures!
With Chloe's help, she and I decided to do something new and fun this year. Before the beach, we bought some salt water taffy's (perfect for a beach theme, eh?) and filled a jar with them. We counted the total amount, then let all the kids take a guess at how many were in the jar. The closest one would win the entire jar.
Here they all are, awaiting the results.
The guesses were hilarious. Some of the kids changed their answer 4 or 5 times.
John was the big winner! He was very sweet to share with everyone.
One of our favorite things about this beach house is the fabulous back yard. It has a nice big deck, and then a huge sand and hill area where the kids spent hours just playing. This year, they found a sled and took turns (not always so patiently), sledding down the hill. Over, and over and over again.
How many boys can fit on one sled?
The big boys (adults) played a little baseball on the beach. I'm pretty sure my love of baseball is rubbing off on Ben. I love it!
With a 10 month old who still naps twice a day, Olivia didn't spend as much time at the beach as the other kids. But when she was there, she quite enjoyed it.
The first few days were cold and WINDY! When it's already a bit chilly, the wind is the killer. Everyone was freezing this day!
Lexi attempted to stay warm, snuggled on Nana's lap.
KC is our master sandcastle builder. He always comes up with something big and grand each year.
Just some proof that I was on this vacation- I'm usually the one behind the camera. (Olivia loves frozen yogurts!)
This year, instead of doing the usual renting a crab boat, all the dads just bought a crabbing license and took the kids down right on the bay and crabbed just a steps from our house. It saved everyone a chunk of money and was just as much fun.
And they could do it multiple times during the week, so we had fresh crab almost every day.
The kids loved it, even Cheetah Josh (a.k.a. Leah). I even tried crab this year! Can I get a woot woot?? That's a pretty big deal. And it was not horrible.
On Monday night, Nana and Papa gave their annual Family Home Evening. We talked about the importance of families. We can never talk about the importance of families too much.
We all helped the kids make a family tree on the table of all of us. Nana and Papa were at the top and each Andros child was underneath in birth order, with their spouses and kids below them.
Here's our crew. Each adult brought a picture from the year 1991. I was in first grade, 7 years old. Ben was 14. :)
For an activity, the kids all got to help break open a piñata.
You better believe it was pure chaos when that piñata broke open.
These two binky babies had lots of play time together on the family room floor. They shared toys and even binkies back and forth! Just 5 weeks apart, these two red headed sweeties.
More crab!
One afternoon, the kids and the dads went down to the beach to fly kites. So much fun stuff to do at the beach!
Baby feeding time! Victoria: 18 months, Grant: 9 months, Olivia: 10 months.
How do you keep 29 people happy? Feed them good meals!
We love our system of each family taking one night to cook. Everything tastes fabulous at the beach! Over the years, a lot of us have started cooking the same thing every year. Beef stew, Brazillian beans and rice and lasagna are some of the staples. Yum!
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