Family Vaca 2013

Well its a little late but we have been BUSY....so here is our blog post on Family Vaca this year.  Once again, it did not disappoint.  We had an AWESOME time on Lake Michigan with a house filled to the brim = 35 people to be exact!

We had heard how wonderful Lake Michigan was and we are inundated with media advertising for "Pure Michigan" but to be truly honest I never thought I would be so impressed with our surroundings.  The small towns along the lake are awesome, the beach is beautiful and has the most perfect sand for little ones, and the water is unbelievably clear while also being calm and fully enjoyable.  No rough waves, no non-swimmable days, etc. that you might find on the coasts.  It hit me one day when I was wading 15 feet from the beach with Sutton on my hip, tossing a frisbee to Chris in the water and watching Shayden and Quinton playing between us - this has never been possible in the ocean = We Have Found The Perfect Spot!!!

Our week was filled with large meals, precious moments with our nieces  nephews and children and picture perfect evenings under Pure Michigan sunsets.  Here are few pictorial highlights from the trip.

Checking out the Marina and a local coffee spot.

Chris (his scruff) and Sutton enjoying the water.

Look Mom, a dead fish.

Lakeside Lunches.

The Cousins - 18 and counting.

And what's vaca without a swimsuit shot...the Fam.

And now, for the highlight reel....family activity night, The Harlem Shake.

Family Vaca 2012

Two weeks ago we embarked on our annual week at the beach with my entire family.  Once again it fulfilled all expectations of full family fun and beautiful beach weather.

The boys loved everything about the week and were at great ages to conquer the waves.  They both did very well at parent assisted boogie boarding and paddle boarding.  And even though we all got rocked by a few waves they were right back at it without a hitch.  Chris was in Daddy Heaven!

The week consisted of many cones of ice cream, sunny book reading, playing in the pool and hot tub, cousin hysteria and of course Duck Donuts.  We all joked at different points throughout the week how loud one house can get with 15 little ones underfoot, but in truth the joy that comes with all that cousin time is priceless and the adults enjoyed it just as much.

I think my only regret this year was my lack of picture taking - which I will chalk up to being way too pregnant on a vacation...attempting to give myself grace on that one.  But I did manage to get a few...

Daddy Love

Family Pic

15 cousins and counting...

2nd Annual Trip to Duck Donuts

Men at Work

One of many ice cream cones...its vacation right!

Costello Vaca 2011

One week ago we embarked upon another Costello Family Vacation to the Outerbanks of North Carolina.  Now you might be asking, 'hey wasn't there a hurricane?', and yes you would be correct but that didn't stop my family of 27 people from hitting the road and praying for the best.  And we were blessed, we were able to enter our beach house on Tuesday with no damage except piles of sand on the decks and pool.  The weather was incredible, the kids had a blast and once again my parents pulled off an incredible week for our entire family.

This was an especially enjoyable vacation for me as it was my first in 4 years that I was not pregnant, breastfeeding or had an infant to care for...hello, it was awesome!  The boys LOVED the sand and played so well at the beach.  Shayden was a digging machine with his boy cousins and Quinton dabbled in just about everything including his favorite - running straight for the ocean with no fear!  I think one of our favorite highlights was taking Shayden crab hunting on the beach one night...watching he and his cousins Eli and Maddie shriek with delight was something I will always remember.

Enjoy a few of my favorite pics...be thankful I didn't burden you with all 384.

Family Vaca 2010

This past week marked the annual Family Vacation (officially our tenth) where we all head off to a predetermined destination and shack up together for a week and have some family bonding time.  Now for some families this would equal tragedy, bickering, and possibly end in a divorce for one couple...but in the our household it just equals good old fashioned fun!

This years destination = Corolla Beach, Outerbanks NC

# of Family Members: 25

# of Nannies: 2
# of bedrooms: 9
# of bathrooms: 10.5
# of days cut short by Hurricane Earl: 3 (boo)


Some of my favorite moments were 1st's for the boys.
Shayden and Quinton's 1st time staying in a hotel:

Quinton's 1st road trip (and he was a total champ):

Not a total first but Shayden old enough to really enjoy the beach:

more to come...

Beach Week

This past week we enjoyed a wonderful family vacation, which means 24 people packed into a beach house and living together for a week...pure bliss! Seriously though, my family is awesome which means this really is a total blast for us and we wouldn't want it any other way. This year was even better than the last because we were back on the beach and in a house that actually fit us all fairly well -10 bedrooms, 7.5 baths and the largest dining table I have seen that could seat us all together!

I do have to admit that this year was a major learning curve for Chris and I. Our first family vacation with Shayden which meant learning how to juggle down time for each of us and still have the couple/family time we wanted as well. It took us a few days to find our rythmn but once we got going I was wishing we had another week to go. Shayden was a champ, he loved the beach (eating sand that is), loved the water and couldn't get enough of all the cousins to play with.