You'll have to forgive me for not posting for a while. LOTS going on, including lots of stress but I'm beyond that now and trying to give every moment to the Lord to use for His glory!! After missing our opportunity to go back to the same spot we camped at last year, we opted to try a different site for our GG weekend. San Simeon. It was beautiful! The weather, believe it or not, was somewhere in the 60's and 50's at night. And it's August?? Well thankfully I'd checked it out beforehand, but I should have brought all long sleeves - except for a couple hours in the afternoon it was pretty chilly. All Bryan's cousins came with their kids (we decided to try it out this year) and we had an active, tiringly fun time.
While setting up camp, Austin found GG and managed to cling to her for the rest of the weekend. Everywhere she went, he was sure to follow!
I have never actually cut open a coconut (although I've seen it done on survivor) but Grandad brought a coconut to have an activity for the kids to watch and do. We all tasted it and it seriously tasted like almonds. No wonder it has the word "nut" in it! ha ha. The milk wasn't all that great, but if you're on Survivor, I'm sure it's heaven.
Of course there's Austin's silly face. This was a small handful of the children that we all brought with us. Chaos... and constant falling, crying, laughing, yelling and demanding of all the kiddos. 
Uncle Jer and the boys roughing it up. The grass (or as we liked to call it, hay) was all over. If you fell down once you looked like a hay bale. The boys loved all their uncles to chase them and, of course, tackle them. They were playing keep away with Uncle Jer's hat.
All but 2 of the little ones putting their toes in the ULTRA freezing water. This water was so cold that in order to enjoy it, you had to wait till your toes were numb. Let's not even mention further on down the beach where walking on the moonstones practically made your feet feel like they were bleeding. Exfoliation! Right Michelle? ha ha. This picture was taken before a 'rogue wave' brought every child to his/her knees, fighting the current to get back to shore. It's funny now, but honestly I felt like I was at D-Day while the kids were crawling back to safety.
We had a total of 3 campsites, one across the street from the other 2. This tree was between the other 2 and provided much entertainment for all the kids. Stick swinging, tree swinging, and jumping on bouncy branches provided hours of fun. I think this is the one thing they will all look back on as a fond memory of this trip.
Our youngest member...looking adorable as ever.
GG and Grandad slept in their Explorer, which looked WAY comfier than our tent. In the morning, the kids decided to welcome GG to the new day by crowding her view of the campsite. GG of course was loving it and they were playing a game of "What Am I Thinking Of?" (or something involving guesses with colors and things to eat).
Then came a game of soccer. The guys keeping it away from the kids, the girls keeping it away from the boys, the kids collapsing in tears and exhaustion, the kids disappearing back to camp to eat, and the adults playing for 5 minutes before kid-watch resumed.
We celebrated Auntie Michelle's birthday on Friday night and Austin's birthday on Saturday. They both share the same birthday so we thought we'd celebrate while we're all together. Austin loved all his presents and wanted to hold them all that minute. 
God gave GG grace to deal with 5 children playing Go Fish together. I have a hard enough time with 2 kids. She had so much patience while all of us were packing up to go home. That was a popular game this last weekend - so glad we brought it! It got the kids to sit down and be semi-still for a little while.
One final picture before we left of GG and Grandad and all their great-grandkids. Too cute!
After the picture, the kids decided it was 'wrestle with Grandad' time. He can hold his own, I tell ya! That many kids would have had me practically on the ground. All in all, it was a wonderful time and we enjoyed pretty much every minute of it (except for the nightly "potty" times that Austin needed to have at 2am).