Seven Under Seven

This week marked my 16th year going to the beach with The Husband's family. You may remember last year's post, when we had Six Under Six. Thanks to us, we now have seven under seven. Don't worry, we aren't planning to make it eight under eight next year.

Seven children. Eight adults. Two floors. Six beds. One pull out couch. One tent. Four cars. One trip to Urgent Care. Forty-seven trips to Publix. 127 wardrobe changes. 612 meltdowns.

The first afternoon we got there we assessed the place and started bringing our things in. We arrived in waves, and the kids were more excited with each new arrival. They ran, they bounced, they air "fighted" with fists and kicks and spins. The Boy kept screaming "I have the power!" in his best He-Man voice. They jumped on beds, and we yelled "don't jump on the bed!" and "use an inside voice!" We would isolate one to make eye contact and ask them to calm down, then they'd be gone, lost in a cloud of dri-fit fabric and warrior calls. Then more cousins would arrive and it would start over, and they were all hopped up on sea air, freedom, and gas station snacks. It was like a continual ambush of tiny dwarf ninjas. 

Full contact movie watching. They are still like this for approximately 28 seconds. 

Here BeYoYo has on his cousin's Halloween Hello Kitty shirt, and is wielding two swords. 

Day two BeYoYo came down with a virus. His temp hovered at 100, and if he could talk he'd have said he felt pretty crummy. It lasted for about 24 hours, and he was back to himself. The next day was The Boy's turn. You know you're a real parent when someone says they're going to throw up, and you instinctively offer your hands just in time for them to fill them with vomit. By the end of the week, 5 of the kids and The Husband had had a fever, with some variation of chills, vomiting, sleepiness, and general crabbiness. The Husband's temp reached 102.5, and I was afraid for a minute I was going to have to drive us home without his help. And also for his safety, of course.

Sorry we brought a virus, guys. 

With four families on different schedules, and three sets of small kids all staying up later than usual, eating more junk than usual, and having to get along with more people than usual, there were bound to be some meltdowns. Like this one, which I don't remember the reason for, but I remember that as she was crying, another child snuck up on her and added a cape:

Classics like "Can I have some Cap'n Crunch? I want Cap'n Crunch. PLEASE please please please can I have some Cap'n Crunch?" Child receives Cap'n Crunch and screams "Noooo! Not THAT!" and falls in the floor like she's been slapped in the face.  A variation on that theme is the parent saying "Come eat your cereal. Come eat your cereal. You need to come eat your cereal before it gets soggy." and child shows up, takes one look at the cereal and screams "I can't eat that! It's WET!" These tiny people look at us, pleading for food and better treatment like they are on adopt-an-orphan infomercials instead of on family vacation. 

There were also the old standbys like I don't want to go to bed, I'm hungry but I don't want to eat, she bothered my thing, he's looking at me, it's my turn now, I don't want to go in, I don't want to go out, I have to pee, I don't have to pee, and I don't want to be doing whatever everyone has decided to do. There was also some incoherent shrieking, brought to you by these two, who didn't want to be left out:

We took the oldest six out to eat once, and grandparents kept BeYoYo. It was loud. And hot. And past their dinner time. And at the last minute the restaurant fryer quit working, so no chicken tenders and fries. Children, you'll have to make do with hamburgers or sandwiches or fish. No? Okay, then, just eat raisins and goldfish for dinner. There was a lot of grouchiness, but mostly just from me. 

Don't think we took them all on our own. The other adults just didn't make it in the pic.

The dwarf ninjas enjoyed the pool and the beach, the pirate museum, the old fort, and the light house. Mostly they just enjoyed playing with each other. 

The Boy said the pool was his most favorist thing of all. The Husband said we could have just stayed at home and gone to the Ho Jo and saved a lot of money. 

We had The Boy's birthday party at the beach and celebrated with his twin cousin. The Husband had made me promise not to make a cake, and I obliged. But.....the bakery I had been emailing with quit responding. So we agreed to pick up an ice cream cake and I'd make fondant decorations for the top. I know, I know, I can't leave well enough alone. She wanted mermaid, he wanted Superman. 

Here they are, happy at their party. 

We're four! We're best buddies! What could go wrong?

And here she is, blowing out the candle on cue, but before he was ready. 

And here he is, starting to pout. Check out her face. 

Afterward there were mutilated sugary body parts everywhere. It looked like a cartoon shark attack. 

Even though he won't be one for three more weeks, we celebrated BeYoYo's birthday at the party too. When in Rome. 

Turns out he loves cake. He gets that from me. 

Family pictures were epic. Legendary. The things family stories are made of. 

We wanted one decent picture of all the grandkids with the grandparents. This is one of the better ones we got. From left to right we have itchy, not sure what to do, he's touching me, starving, exhausted, confused, and I love my penis. You'll noticed even the grandparents aren't smiling. The rest of us are all behind the camera, threatening and promising and pleading for just ONE picture. I don't think Bebe is going to want to frame this, folks. 

And we got some shots of just us too. 

I accused the Husband of squinting here, and he said "that's just my natural grimace"

He accused me of reigning over everyone here. I told him that was just my natural position. 

This one sums up our week the best: The Husband is rubbing his eye, BeYoYo is like "hey guys!", The Boy is sticking his tongue out, and I'm wasting my time trying to wrangle them all. 

My brothers in law did manage to get this shot of the oldest six. BeYoYo was asleep, and I'm not complaining. Is anyone good with photoshop? 

We made it home on Saturday with a liberal mix of screen time and junk food. Prissy was so excited to see us that she ran in circles and threw up in the floor.  BeYoYo laughed from his car seat saying "More! More!" Then he blew out a diaper, and another. I went to put the cloth diaper in the washer, and a mouse darted out from behind the washer to the garage. We'd been home 15 minutes. Welcome home. If you need me I'll be back at the beach. Or the Ho Jo.