Port Aransas 2009

We came, we conquered, we tried not to be obnoxious, but how could we not in this sea of burnt orange? Our annual UT reunion beach trip to Port Aransas was quite the gathering. We came with 50 people and left with 50 people, so all in all it was a huge success. The kids had so much fun reuniting and playing hard for 4 days straight.

Josh is a pro at beach living as this was his third trip of the summer. He was fearless with the waves and had no problem getting dirty in the sand.

I love this picture of all the dad's holding the kids in the ocean. There were several dolphins swimming close to shore so all the kids got to see them gracefully diving in and out of the water. The next morning, Chris and Dave found a 100 pound sea turtle that washed ashore. The poor Sea Turtle must have lost a battle with a boat, but he was still interesting to see.

As in years past, Josh's main focus was scooping up the sand into a dump truck and moving it from place to place. The boy has a one track mind. But, he did get to assist in building sand castles. And by assist, I mean demolish with his dump truck.

All the kids had fun catching waves and riding on the little surf boards. Josh and his mighty muscles took me for a ride into the ocean. He kept turning around saying, "Mommy hang on, I'm going fast." Little did he know I was doing all the work, but he was so excited about pulling me, it was too cute.

Afternoon pool time was probably Josh's favorite time of the day. He is getting so good at swimming, I hate that summer pool time is almost over! He would swim from the steps to me back and forth, barely stopping to take a breath! Here is a great picture of probably half of our group dominating the condo pool. Thanks for the picture, Tricia.

After the kids were safely asleep in their beds, the adults got to enjoy some fun as well. Our group has always been big "game night" fans, so naturally that is how we spent our evenings. Due to babysitting responsibilities (ie: not leaving all the kids to fend for themselves in the condos) we had to split the group a bit, but this was probably the biggest gathering of the weekend. We played a silly game called "Mafia" that produced extreme laughter and a whole lot of finger pointing.

The girls managed one night away from the kids and husbands. We stole all the sweets and booze from each of the condos and had quite the party. Two mean games of Dominos, some inappropriate music (provided by yours truly), loads of sugar, a couple bottles of wine, and endless giggles filled the condo's recreation center. I am sure we were quite a sight to see. But, don't worry, we let the boys run free the night before when they took over a local bar to watch the UT football game. They all came home REEKING of smoke and beer, so I guess it was a fun night.

The Ladies.

As tradition, game day meant dressing the kids (and ourselves) up in our finest UT attire and bribing them to sit still for 5 seconds to take a picture. You can see how well that worked for us. This is the best I could capture. All 22 kids are officially accounted for in this picture, although you can only see a few strands of one little boy's hair, and an arm of another.... but they are all there by golly! Impressive. Josh did great and stood in one spot staring at the camera during the entire process.

M&Ms are my new best friend.

Josh's new best friend, (and my sweet Goddaughter), is Isabella. All weekend, he asked for "My Isa." They played chase up and down the beach endlessly. It was pretty cute and also lead to some nice afternoon naps for Josh. Thanks, Isa!

ANOTHER tradition is the annual Toddler Race. This year there was some fierce competition. Oh who am I kidding, there is fierce competition every year! As expected, the morning was ripe with a ridiculous amount of trash talk about our speedy kids. Josh didn't disappoint, his fast legs didn't come in first place, but he did great. His strategy this year was to weave his way across the finish line. Not the best tactical move when you are racing in a straight line, but it provided this awesome picture of his sideways running. Impressive.

Team Brown says thanks for the good times, friends!