Seaside Family Camp

One of the fun things about living in the same town is that church camps become family camps... certainly it must feel that way at Beach Cities, St Andrew's and Seaside.

Here's a glimpse of the Seaside Family Camp from September 22-23:

 Not sure where the kids are, but hey... this is family camp so I'm sure an aunt or cousin or grandparent is looking after them so Dane & Emily can have a moment together.

 Of course camp includes cards...

 a bit of sun...

 tribal wars (and candy in the background)...

 teamwork...

 adventure sports...

 team spirit...

 inter-generational strategy...

 and encouragement...

plus a whole lot of smiles!!!!

Happy 11th Birthday, Trevor!!! 

 Hunter didn't like the bathing system as much as Tanner... but he's clean!

 Pregnant and happy

Oh... and there's a little bit of just hanging out too.

And though there are only limited spaces in the bloodline family, the good thing is that the Kingdom Family has no limit so let's keep inviting people in!!!

Thanks for the memories...

A Bonefide Bonfire

While we were home, one Sunday night at Grandma's house Aunt Francine threw out the idea of a cookout at the beach... so Wednesday night rolled along and so did about 30+ relatives for a 'spontaneous' bonfire!!! It was a perfect evening for such an activity - sunny with low wind and plenty of food.

When Mason wasn't running down the coastline catching waves, he was nearby building sandcastles - what a trooper - it was a bit chilly out there...

as Grandma & Grandpa seem to think!

Stephanie and her sister-in-law!!! Welcome to the family, Amanda!!!

Uncle Paul - enjoying that pre-hotdog moment and a bit of quiet (since the kids have already started in on theirs)

Helena loved Grandpa's kite.

Hunter and Helena tried to get as much time in with Great-Grandma while they could!!!

Madie & Anna having fun in the sand.

My dad's always got some new way to improve cooking methods... here's his latest firepit hot dog roaster for perfectly toasted hot dogs and no lines or scorched finger hair.

Helena loves her Grandma... and her Aunt Aunt Francine. (I haven't figured out what to have the kids call my aunts/uncles... any suggestions?)

These are a handful of the 4th generation... you can see why Hunter had such a great vacation!!!

With everybody gathered together, they sang Happy Birthday... to me!!! Wow... what a treat!! We got to celebrate my birthday (a few hours early) with a bunch of my rellies at the beach! Growing up, we'd often be camping during my birthday so I was spoilt with attention (and the rest of the gang was spoilt with cake & brownies on the night) and had my favorite folks around me throughout the day! It's been a long time since I've been around for my birthday, let alone on the beach with the extended family... Thanks for making it special!!!

And the cake was pretty tasty too!!!

Grandpa had the best seat in the house and just watched all the shenanigans from here.

Aunt Amber was giving Hunter lessons in how to toast marshmallows - those little puffs of sugar we all love so much!

Okay, contrary to popular belief... we did not deprive our son of many delectable delights while on this trip. Though this particular evening he was digging through chip bags, handling melons in the fruit bowl and practically ripping hot dogs out of the hands of innocent by-standers which made it look like he'd been deprived of much more. He's too funny!! Sorry to those of you who's plates he violated!!!

Steph wasn't satisfied with the s'more... she went for my birthday cake too!! Actually, I wanted s'mores so I needed a bit of assistance on the cake! I love Stephanie - there are always plenty of smiles and laughs when she's around... well, when I think of it - most of the time with all of the cousins there are lots of laughs (but I still do love you, Steph)!!!


Look at that monster moon!!! I was struck again by how big the sky looks here in CA... mostly because the buildings aren't so tall and it's pretty darn flat. Most nights we could see the sunset and the beautiful pink, orange and purple clouds overhead; unlike Taipei where we usually just see buildings.