The Reunion

Every other summer, the Taylor family gets together for one week of camping at the beach. This year we camped at Pismo Beach. 

We had fun at the campgrounds.. sharing 8 campsites in all!

Every morning while it was still cool, Aunt Abby played BINGO with all the kids. There's close to 20 kids, so they played in two groups: the big kids played real Bingo, while the youger ones played picture Bingo. Claire loved it. She would shout BIIIINGGOOOO at the top of her lungs, and then sprint off to Abby's tent, where all the prizes were.

We also had a fantastic birthday party for Lydia and Brooklyn, who were both born on August 8th.

Mandi did an awesome job with the cupcakes and cupcake stand!

We did lots of facepainting

The little girls made sparkly crowns, and the boys got swords

We had a princess pinata..which none of the little ones could dent...but Hayden blew.it.up

Lydia's favorite gift...her roller skates. She hasn't quite figured them out yet, but she thinks she is skating when she "walks" with them. She was so pleased with herself.

The real highlight of the week is the beach. Lots of fun in the sand!

Lydia practiced her letters in the sand :)

Just about every day we came to Avila Beach, which was a little warmer than Pismo Beach.

You always knew where the Taylors were... look for the blue shade tents!

Scarlett just learned to walk... and now she was mastering walking in the sand!

Sand EVERYWHERE. Every kid. Every day. 

Lots of fun in the water too!

Josh and Darren catchin the same wave

Lydia and Mom catching a wave

Surprisingly, not many of the adults braved the cold Pacific Ocean. This is a rare shot of the guys out in the water, and of course when they got about waist deep they were wishing they'd stayed on the shore. Josh braved it though, and bodysurfed every day.

Claire only braved the water if she was holding someones hand (like Aunt Sarah's)

The little kids took a walk along the pier, and even down the steps toward the water!

 

But the best part of the reunion...all the new friends!

Lydia and Noah spent the first couple days at the beach just running in the waves together

Scarlett got to hang out in Griffin's portable playpen!

SIX kiddos were born in 2006! And then Ellie, who was always hanging out with this crew.

And finally - all the ladies :) This is for Uncle Colin, who got a free lunch from a coworker for every picture of a girl at the beach.  And we're still missing Larissa, Shanti, Mandi and Joni!