Family Reunions and Birthdays

Once again mom organized a summer Crown family reunion at Carlouel for all the cousins and extended family. We had a great time - she had fun games for the kids and we always love eating down at the beach and playing in the sun with family. Mom had put the kids into two teams for the games, divided by ability, but the big girls saw the list and decided they all wanted to be together so instead the oldest were teamed with the youngest versus the ones whose ages fall in the middle. I'll let you guess who won the games - perhaps the girls should have left things as they were!

**Thanks to Mom and Stacy for sharing their pictures, I hardly took any on my phone **

The red team.

The blue team - waiting on Davis.

Baker and Lilly

Tug of War

Big Daddy with the boys at lunch.

Mimi and the girls.

Ali, Stacy, Me, Shannon, Brian, Davis, Bill, Baker, Lindsey and Jen.

Shannon, Padgett, Drew, Aunt Karen, Uncle Bob, Aunt DeLene and Ellis.

The water balloon toss.

Lala and Ellie cheering from the sidelines.

So ready to see the end of the fish lips pose.

Lucien at bat for some baseball.

Jude and Davis having a convo.

Mari at bat.

Ellie and Sloane cool off in the surf.

We went from one event right to another - we headed over to Mama and Papa's to celebrate Samantha and Dad's birthdays. We had a great time swimming and partying some more. 

Rough life eating popcorn and drinking slushies in the jacuzzi.

Dad and Uncle Wayne

Stacy looking hot in the German WW2 hat.

Lilly and Katie. .. not sure where, when or why, but again with the fish lips.

Beach Time!

The view from where we stayed.

Our first day was of course spent soaking up the sun!! Ali and Lindsey and their kids joined us, along with mom, for a full, fun day out at the condo. The kids preferred the pool and the adults preferred the beach so there was a bit of back and forth between the two.

Josie and Mari ready to go.

Katie and Anna

Me, Mom, Ali and Lindsey

Katie and Megs

Lindsey and Baker

Thumb War!! Baker tended to cheat :).

Mimi painted everyone's toes.

Ali showing the girls, and Baker, pictures of Lilly at cheer camp.

Dinner at Saltwater's - YUM!

Besties

Enjoying her ice cream but missing Lilly

The little two got to spend the night at Aunt Ali and Uncle Stacy's and have a late-night swim.

Lizard girl.

We're going to America!!!

It's that time again - our trip to the States!! The countdown was finally over and we headed out from Wellington in the late afternoon on a chilly winter's day. Prior to leaving we found out that Tom would be on our flight from Auckland to L.A. (and could sit with the girls) so Dugald requested an upgrade for me with some of his hard-earned vouchers from Air New Zealand. Unfortunately the flight was full and they couldn't upgrade me prior, but they suggested I check again on the day of the flight when we checked-in at Wellington Airport. So we did, but still no availability - "check again in Auckland". We were met by Tom and Kate in Auckland at the domestic terminal and had a quick catch-up on the walk over to the international terminal before heading through security. Again I checked about an upgrade but still no luck.

Koru Club Wellington before our flight.

Leaving Wellington.

Flight to Auckland.

As we were sitting at the gate waiting to board I heard my name paged, and lo and behold, this . . .

It was amazing!! About 15 minutes after I boarded this lot came on the plane:

They were thrilled to have Tom riding with them rather than me as it meant unlimited movies - no rules, just right. Unfortunately poor Meggie got sick during the flight - her ear hurt her so much it made her throw up, so that put a damper on the first-class experience for me as I kept going back to check on her. However I still arrived in LAX much more refreshed than I have ever been! Oh to travel that way all the time. . . 

We arrived in L.A. and said our goodbyes to Tom, got through Customs and immediately headed to Starbucks. From there it was off to our hotel where we waited about 30 minutes for our rooms to be ready then dumped our bags and headed across the street to the mall. Shopping is a good way to keep everyone awake for a few hours! We hit some of the girls' favorites and got some cheap summer clothes and bathing suits, then grabbed dinner, returned to the hotel and went to bed so we'd be ready for our early morning flight.

Our travel to Tampa was uneventful, all flights on time and I didn't forget any children or luggage! We were greeted at Tampa Airport by the lovely Martins (except for Lilly who was still at camp). Ali graciously let us borrow her car and they helped us load up all the luggage then we headed to dinner together. After dinner we drove to Clearwater, stopped by Mimi and Big Daddy's to say hello and grab the key to the condo, got to the condo and collapsed into bed. Our vacation had started!

Sweet Anna made all the girls candy bouquets to welcome them.