Christmas Coast Trip - Day 2

Day 2 at the coast was fun - super fun. The day started out low-key. We had lots of lounging and playing going on.

Then before lunch we all pulled ourselves together a little for a family picture. I can't believe our family is this big! I LOVE it. We have the coolest 18 people in our family ever :).

 Here are Grandma and Grandpa and their 6 grandkids!

This one is just me wrestling a big happy ball of Teagen. 

The Casqueiros

Bryan and Candy took this lovely picture. I wish we had went out and taken one!

After all our pictures, people headed out in little groups for lunch. Dan went out an picked up an amazing burger for me with loads of blue cheese on it - oh man - mouth-watering again. I stayed home with some of the kids, and we worked on our craft - Duct tape rings! We had lots of fun making them with cousin girls of all ages.

Another fun activity on Day 2 was Gingerbread Houses. Candy & Bryan brought all the supplies - and check out this spread!! The kids had a blast making them.

After dinner, more lounging :). I think these pictures were taken when I was babysitting Dad's computer for him.

I don't know the story behind this picture, but I LOVE IT :).

Before bed, the kids had one more fun activity. Grandma & Grandpa had gotten them rocks... I forget what they're called, but you break them and they have crystals inside. Here are a few pictures of that fun.

Once the little kids were settled, it was time for the big kids to set of on some shenanigans. Every adult in the house that doesn't consider themselves an adult yet (that would be everyone from Zach to Dan) headed out on a 'teenage' adventure :).

Here we are piling down the stairs - about to run out into crazy pouring rain and head to the beach!!

Candy's camera took awesome pictures of how the rain and wind were hitting - completely sideways - no up or down at all - just a constant flow of huge raindrops hitting you everywhere.

This picture gives a little bit of an idea of how wet it was.

Visibility was low - I counted heads multiple times. It was crazy fun, but I didn't want to go home with less siblings/cousins than we came with!!

We were playing the most hilarious games - running and frolicking like school children. We would race eachother full-effort at a snails pace into the wind, and then turn around and leap with the wind on the way back - gaining so much momentum that it was scary to stop!

We sang songs and yelled, even just to communicate with people right next to us! Some of us also spent a few minutes running in a circle and yelling, "BEST DAY EVER!!!!" ... At least that's what I was yelling - I really have no idea if everyone else was yelling that or not :).We stayed down on the beach for a lot longer than I thought we would because it was just so crazy fun... slightly perilous at times (like the blind trip down and then back up the slippery rocks)... but SO fun.

Once we were too soaked to tell the difference, we all piled into the hot tub at the house where Grandma Bonnie & Grandpa Dale were staying. Dan and I were the only ones who brought swimsuits, so we had all kinds of hilarious wardrobe in there - including mustard sweats, of course :).

More hilarious games ensued in the hot tub.

When we got back to our beach house we busted out some hot chocolate and congratulated ourselves on a job well done. It was a fabulous adventure. I was so excited that each one of my siblings could be there together. AND I was so glad that Zach could join us - we talked about how he was there in proxy for Ali and Nikki too - who wouldn't have hesitated for a second to join us on our escapade.

Teagen's Favorite Things

Teagen is currently enjoying my fruit roll-up so much that he's literally giggling each time I start getting him another piece :).

I've been thinking lately that I wanted to post some of the fun things that Teagen loves - and since his first birthday is today - this seems like a perfect chance. Here is a list of Teag's favorites:

The Stairs - he hasn't fallen yet, but he spends a ridiculous percentage of his play time on the stairs. Luckily he seemed to figure out how to go down pretty close to when he learned how to go up them. That was a huge blessing.

Throwing Things - especially down the stairs. I love to pile things on the stairs and grab them when I go up. Teagen loves to watch all the different sizes and shapes tumble and bounce when he chucks them all down the stairs multiple times every day. When he isn't throwing things down the stairs, he's often throwing other things in other places.

Food - this kid never goes hungry - he makes sure of that. His favorite food is probably still milk. He breastfeeds constantly - but it's free, convenient, and it's chocolate - so we're not surprised :).

Words: "Mama" when he is grumpy or wants fed, and "Dada" when he's happy. And the rest of the time, just any noise - often an open yell of "Aahh". He is very vocal.

Hitting Things - He loves to pound on surfaces - especially if they make noise.

Big Things - He loves anything big, especially if he can move it. He also really likes walls. I can't tell you how excited and fascinated he was the first time he crawled a few steps up the stairs and looked up at the wall that goes all the way to the 2nd story ceiling. He just kept looking up and hitting that wall. So funny. He also often causes raucous at church because people will carry him to the back while I'm playing the piano, to help him not be a distraction. When they get him to the back, he can reach the wall - that just makes him more excited and more loud. He often cracks up laughing trying to touch the wall.

Pointing - He figured out pointing a while ago, and uses the skill regularly.

Music & Rhythm - he gets that beat rocking side to side in his hips and there's no stopping him - or his enthusiasm.

Biting - We have known he's been teething for a long time. He has 2 teeth on top, and 2 on bottom. Even before he was teething, his favorite thing to gnaw on has been skin. He doesn't really like any teething toys. So Dan and I both have just let him gnaw on our knuckles pretty freely. We didn't really think this was a problem until the first time he bit Elli! Now we are starting to realize we have a biter on our hands. We've never had a biter before. Elli currently has two big marks on her left cheek from another bite she received the other day. We'll have to work on that :).

Chewing on Socks - I know I've mentioned this before, and it probably sounds silly, but Teagen honestly does love chewing on socks. If there's anything he doesn't chuck down the stairs, it's probably a dirty sock, and it probably didn't go down the stairs because he probably stuck it in his mouth.

Playing Fetch With Himself - Teagen loves to throw things that make noise on the kitchen floor too. Once it finds its final resting place, he crawls there as fast as he can, picks it up, and throws it again. He will go around and around in the kitchen, doing this over and over. I love when a little one can keep themselves entertained sometimes :).

Throwing His Body Weight Around - He likes to move his body aggressively - and has almost launched himself out of my arms many times. He also bangs his head into things - like Dan :). Wrestling him in church can just about render your arms sore - I guess it pretty much is like lifting weights. He provides a lot of resistance :).

Being Happy - He is a really happy kid, as long as he's not uncomfortable or displeased. He cracks up at anything - honestly, it doesn't take much at all. He loves everyone he meets, and doesn't tend to have anxiety about being away from Mom & Dad.

He's a fun kid to be a Mom to, and we love him tons.

Happy First Birthday Teagen!!

Oregon Coast - Day 1

Yes, I'm still blogging our Christmas trip... we've been busy. But my Christmas decorations are down now!

The day after Christmas, we all loaded up and headed out to the coast for lunch at Mo's on the bayfront... and we pretty much took up half the restaurant :). After that we filled Belinda's:

Our rental houses were in Lincoln City, so we stopped in Depot Bay on the way up. Here are Auntie Em & Kade checking out the ocean - no spouting while we were here this time though.

The girls

I wish we had more of the girls' legs in these pictures with those adorable leggings :).

In this picture I was in the car - maybe helping Teag? But I made sure to get in on the group picture they were doing :).

Haha - this picture started some funniness. I told Alex that was a good pose for making his legs look long, and then proceeded to make everyone else do it :) - they were all more-than-willing participants. I also love this shot of Dan - except that his right hand looks like it's about half a second away from flashing some kind of gang sign. Too much coolness to be contained :).

Long-legged Maely

Long-legged Elli

Long-legged Jenaye

Long-legged Amber... sometimes I'm the biggest dork I know :).

Long-legged Dan... putting up a tough fight for biggest dork title :).

After a few more fun stops and shenanigans, we got to our Beach house... and this is it! I'm not even joking! This house was AWESOME!!

Here is our room. There were 5 master suites, ours had a balcony that connected with Candy & Bryan's - you can see it in the above picture on the middle level.

Elli was so excited to spend more time with Baby Kylie - she followed Bryan and Candy around a lot.

The dining room table was AWESOME - it must have seated 16? maybe more? Either way - it was fabulous for meals, fabulous for crafts, and fabulous for game nights. Here are a bunch of cute kiddos eating dinner on the first night. Maggie, Elli, Kade, Luke, Aubrey & Maely... I think Paige, Ethan & Emmie are all on the other side.

There was a sweet game room downstairs. Some of the younger boys (and a few older ones) opted to spend quite a bit of time down here playing together.

Here are Lizzie and Rochelle playing some air hockey.

Dan and Maely verses Ethan, Lizzie & Alex at foosball. There was Ping Pong too. Alex and Lacey and Dan and I had some hilarious couples games going on... We found Dan to be violently competitive. Apparently the rules of doubles are that the team members are supposed to alternate taking shots, so Dan would push me out of the way every time it was his shot, and then yank me back into the zone when it was mine. I don't think he was doing it on purpose - it was like I was just another tool to use in the game. It was dang funny. And every once in a while Lacey and I thoroughly impressed ourselves with our crazy skills :).

Teag was being fussy and not napping the first day when Dan and Grandpa Gary took the kids down to the water, so I missed this part. But I was super glad Lacey went and grabbed a few pictures.

The first night we all gathered together for a big pizza dinner. Grandma Bonnie & Grandpa Dale had rented a house just up the street with Chris & Katie +7, Kelvin & Camille +2, and Laura & Sam, so they all came over. It was fun to have so many of us together, and I'm pretty sure that by the end of that first night, the big storm had rolled in pretty good - which made being at the coast that much more exciting :).