A Break from Summer Vacation Posts

Paige made a quilt for James's bed. She found a pattern she liked, adapted it for the size and shape she wanted, and had her mother quilt it on the longarm quilter.

She liked the end result very much and is rather proud of it.

This is the back of the quilt.

Here is a closeup of the quilting on the back of the quilt.

Unbeknownst to us, Mom entered it int the county fair down where they lived. They liked it too. It placed just under the Grand Prize winner.

Philadelphia Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Pennsylvania temple, currently under construction, as it looked back in July.

Independance Hall

Is impossible to visit on a Friday afternoon in the summer. But, you can still drive by it.

Romantic Beach walks

Gma and Gpa Barlow were so good to us all. One night most of us we went for a walk just as couples. James and Carie left on their own. Jon, Angela, Brian and I started out together and then split to enjoy some together time. The sunset was beautiful, the ocean soothing, and the company perfect.

We all happened to meet at the beach exit closest to our house for a few minutes of adult talk.

Thanks everyone for the great memories.

Days at the Beach

Arrrrrr....

For part of the beach week, my sister S made this adorable pirate treasure hunt for all of the cousins.  The older helped read the clues while everyone ran around in a pack trying to find the next one. At the end, they each had a bag of treasure. Thanks again, S!

Lilly loved the little duck that came in hers. (She even swam with him in the ocean.) James was reluctantly "apprenticed to a pi-rate," but was willing to play along.

Girl Cousins

Grandma and Grandpa Barlow have 11 grandchildren, 8 boys and 3 girls. When we get together, the girls have a chance to enjoy some time. Lilly learns so much from Sabrina and Olivia.

How to "be-lax" in a hammock.

Make any blanket into a princess dress.

Hi Cousin Max! Don't mind us; we're just being girly.

Snuggle time.

Love you, beautiful Sabrina.

Now, everyone dance.

Uncles

I love my siblings. They make me smile and I am so glad to have them around.

Jon & me cleaning up after an amazing pizza night.

James teaching Lilly how much fun it is to play "Uncle."

She is such a drama queen...

Crowded

How do you know there are a lot of people in the house?

Shoe Pile, of course.

Sand Castle Masters

Jon and Brian had quite the time making sand castles and breakers to protect their work. It was adorable to see how much fun they had. It made me wish I had more of an engineering mind. They did not enter any contests, but they built the best castles on the beach. :)

We had fun burying people too. This is Ethan. We buried Lilly and Paige as well. I will look for those pictures, but I may not have them or they may have some of S's kids in them. I will try to find and share...they were adorable.

Puddle Hoppin

One morning on the way to the Beach...

Loving the Ocean

The actual point of this trip was to spend time with Paige's family at Bethany Beach in Delaware.  Here are several posts on the subject, starting with our first visit to the ocean, 2.5 blocks from the location we were staying at.

Daddy: Fun to build sand castles, but the clean up and sand everywhere is a pain

Mommy: Love every minute, grateful for shade and sunscreen

Lilly: Willing to play and run and love the water

James: Waves are scary and out to get me, but playing up on the sand is fun

Pano of the view as you crest the hill.

1st day/time playing on the beach

You have to dip your toes in, even if you don't have a swimsuit on.

Sand, no water please Mommy.

Getting closer to the water...and searching for shells, of course.

Be careful, it will sneak up on you and be a lot higher than anticipated.

Summer Trip - Washington D.C. Temple

We did not go into town this time through. Just to the temple.