You’d think that a full week of Holidays with days and days at the beach, a million things going on at once (ok, I lie, just two things going on at once – the beach and the water), a different bathing suit almost everyday, all my siblings together under one roof, three Grandsons (5 ½, 1 ½ and 6 months), a full moon every night (you have to know my brothers to get it) and a fancy digital camera would result in some serious photo opportunities, but you’re wrong. After this last holiday, I somehow managed to only get a picture of Marcus with a pink cowboy hat on. Seriously, why even have a camera? I remember going on this holiday thinking how I was going to take so many pictures and then post them on my blog and fascinate all my readers (although I think it’s just Mom and Tan reading cause no one else ever comments) and somehow this is all you get. ENJOY!
So the week was fun, I said Goodbye to Ben on Sunday when he dropped me off at Nate and Tans. I really (really) wanted him to come, but I guess when we prayed his business would be successful we should have been prepared for it to be this successful. We had a nice little drive to the Lake and met the rest of my family there. That night was fun because everyone was there (but Ben of course). We did the usual Woodruff stuff, like watching a video Jeff made of Moths up in Crowfoot (sick…seriously sick) and then playing Dominos. I think we ate our junk food rations for the entire week in that one night. Who’s idea was it to have a healthy week anyway? Some one crazy that’s for sure.
We spent most of the time at the beach relaxing, floating, building sand castles, and dreaming of KFC. We honestly stayed out all day long – most nights we didn’t eat dinner until at least 8:00PM – some days I didn’t eat lunch at all, I was just having too much fun soaking in the rays. Some how I thought it was quite the feat to be the “only one who stayed at the beach all day”- I think my sunburned body would disagree. Every night after dinner we thought of all the wonderful things we could do as a family at night, but somehow Becc's Favourite “So you think you can Dance” and other various TV shows took precedence – which was ok because our “UNO” games, Ice Cream trips and midnight swims made up for it. We were so grateful for out lighthouse (mom) on those midnight swims. She definitely knows how to work a flashlight, especially when she used the brightness of the full moon each night to reflect light for all us swimmers (you have to know Nate to understand). I tried so hard every night to stay up late with the “singles” but as it turns out I’m just not young and fun any more, all I could think about in the first few minutes of the nightly 2 AM movie was how badly I wanted to sleep, the movie always lost that battle especially since I knew I needed to be prepared for Marcus’ daily 7:00 AM wakeup call – I’m surprised Josh never learned that lesson after his first 7:30 AM wakeup by Matthew. Some people never learn.
So Jared Came Thursday Morning, Ben came Thursday night and Sarah left for her camp Friday Afternoon. We joked about having soooo much fun once she left, but she’ll be happy to know that we didn’t do anything exciting. Although that's when Jeff and Yuka came - they were fun! Oh... we also went Go-karting, that was fun too! But it’s just not the same without Sarah, I don’t think I can even count the number of times someone said “I wish Sarah was here”.
So the week ended with a day at the beach, a forgotten much needed application of sunscreen and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Let me tell you, an air conditioned theatre does nothing for a sunburn – I had no relief.
In summary: The beach was fun, the sunburn wasn’t; the kids were cute, the 7 AM wakeups weren’t; the ice cream trips were great, the mint paddies not so good; the Cabin was Wonderful, the spiders in the bathroom were horrible;
But mostly – it was great to be together again, the week was just a lot of F-U-N!! What’s the plan for next year?
Ben and Carson...Poor Kid 
Emily and Me
The Girls and our Sunglasses
