8 Days +7 Nights+ 6 Grandchildren=!

Every couple of years we rent a house and take the whole family away for a few days.

This year we upped it to a whole week with all six of our sweeties (and their parents) with a visitor or two (or 3 or 4 or 5) thrown in.

Just hanging out, that's what it was all about.The first night brought our first visitors, Natalie's parents, who were vacationing near by.

They came all the way from Kentucky in order to spend time with our shared sweeties, Ella & Sami. Natalie's brothers would come by a couple of nights too for a drink and a dip in the hot tub.

We love them!See that Happy Birthday sign? We surprised Wyatt with a Pirate Party when they arrived. He turned three on December 23rd and the poor kid hadn't had a party yet. Wait I have pictures of that, hmmm. Wyatt had his own bed in his parents' room.Ella slept on a pull out in our room.Sami had her own room,our walk in closet which even had a window.

The other two little girls had pack n plays in their parents' closets.We had a loft outside our bedroom.

It turned out to be a great place for Papa to rest his aching back during the day.Sami loved Ariel's hair. It was also suppose to sing but the batteries were dead.

Note to self, do not buy toys with batteries 6 months early no matter how good the deal.We filled these stocking with toys for the kids to play with through the week.Daddy helped WyattsistersJackOn the whole the stockings were a success. The biggest hits were pretend food and anything they could do together, the misses were the "quiet time" toys like stamp pads, crayons & individual electronics."Hurry, Papa"PiperThe Mega Bloks kitchen didn't stay a kitchen for long.The only time he used his DVD playerWyatt's 'Melissa & Doug' birthday cake was a big hit.We were without cell phone coverage and internet service most of the week but Charlie was able to get on his tablet. I was kind of glad for the lack of service but others were a bit perturbed.So grateful to have Shawn with us this year.

Next Christmas he will be deployed. Someone had to be on "step watch" when the kids were in the basement in case one of the sweeties might escape.Dinners were great. Jen helped me get most of the meals together.

This one I fell asleep at though. Yes, lay my head down on the table and fall asleep, asleep.

Seems I mistook a sleeping pill for a muscle relaxer, oops. Don't know how Tom still doesn't sleep after taking one of those!

It seems I couldn't hold just one. I spent a lot of time with these two little ones. We realized the last day that these two never even left the house. I don't think they minded.Uncle TommyNot much snow but they did enjoy what we had.

I also have some pictures from them iceskating and tubing that I posted on FB and took off my camera and forgot about until just now,sigh. That will wait for another post.

Our kindergarten teacher did a pretty good job getting them all to play a game together.Who are you texting? We are all here!"Where is Uncle Shawn?"I think I got a picture of Shawn on every couch

Then Grandma Joyce came to visit.She loves her Great-Grandchildrennot as much as her son loves his grandchildrenbut then again she loves them a lotWonder what advice she was giving Michele.Lily seemed to enjoy the money that she got from Grandma Joyce & Grandpap Steve.My babies helped me open my candy. We always get the best candy from Grandma & Grandpap. Redstone, made locally in PA.She loved seeing them but they really tired her out. She had to take a nap before the rest of the family showed up.She loves her Tommy.Grandpap Steve has waaaay too much energy and always seems to get them riled.Ella was so sweet when she got her card.Lily loves chiliPlaying a game with Aunt NataliePiper loves chili too"No Grams, like this.""I'm gonna get you"Tom's mom and stepfather came for an afteroon since they don't live far from where we were staying.

Tom's brother, 2 nieces & 1 nephew "to be" came too. They spent the night.Katrese, what a great big cousin!Tim loves his daughters!

Lily loved that baby.Welcome, come join us, one and all.All those toys and they played with the magazines and the basket they were in.Sitting by the fireplace knitting. Before the fire.

Ohh the days we could build a fire, before babies.

Seriously, we did have 2 nights that we were able to light a fire

Michele TRYING to keep the girls out of the fridge.The brothers, Tom & Tim.

No comment.TICKLE FEST!Wyatt & Jack eating one of the many oranges we went through.Krystal, Josh, Shawn & Katrese doing what family does best.Uncle Tommy singing with his two Godsons.The boys getting life lessons from Great Uncle Tim? When the brothers get together you gotta know it ends in pizza and beer.Jen taught Krystal to knit.

Krystal is getting married this summer and we are all very excited.Pizza, drinks and knitting lessons. That's what cousins are for.Family Movie Time"Come back here, Piper"Ella was so good with the little ones.Oh, Lily. That's what you call self feeding.

Smart move on our part to bring a high chair & booster seat.

Let Mommy eat breakfast in peace? I don't think so.Three on a couch?Our big girl!Not sure how he got them all to sit. I suspect there was food involved.Ella got this apron and an 'order pad' from her BaBa (her other grandma) and she took our orders all week.That boppy was a big hit too"Wake up and play, Daddy"Natalie's brothers,Uncle Al and Uncle Donnie, came by to stir them up before they headed off to Utah for more skiingSeems like we were always washing someones hands.Lily and Daddy taking time to just hang out.Thomas used some down time to organize the last year's worth of pictures.

Sami loves looking at them too.We had some tired kids by the end of the week.Looks like she might be getting too big for Papa to pick up.Uncle Shawn is soooo funnyI'll keep this snowman forever.Helping with dinnerShe was laughing, really!snack timePlaying games. Shawn, Michele & Natalie didn't get nearly enough time playing games but I don't know what these parents were thinking. Who has time for games? Crap, I just realized I have more pictures of adults trying to find the time to play games too. Now I remember where the pictures from Wyatt's birthday are. What else did I forget?

TO BE CONTINUED