summer with the seaveys

It's difficult to wrap up an entire month of activities in one blog post, but I shall endeavor to try.

This summer was especially fun for our kids because we had the company of the ENTIRE Seavey family here.  

Grandma and Grandpa always come for the Summer, but it's a rare thing to have Mitch's sister and brother here as well-and all at the same time!

Here's Grandma and Grandpa with most of the Seavey grandkids...before Lynn and her family arrived.

And then AFTER they arrived, we had a BBQ at the beach (of course!) and snapped some fun family pictures of everyone.  Poor Kaden wasn't feeling too great, but he was a trooper and kept to Mitch's side the entire evening.  

One of several (or, many, I should say) beach trips with everyone.  Our good friends the Okimotos also came out to say Hi and swim in the ocean.  

Mitch brought out the paddle board (which technically is Brian's board, but we've been storing at our place for the past couple of years) and the kids all took turns going for a spin.  They all loved it!  And I got a good workout trailing behind them as they paddled aimlessly towards the deep.  Pulling them back to the safety of the shallows is actually hard work!

  

Jojo and I out in the lagoon.  She's smiling here...but make no mistake, she was small kine freaking out every time the board rocked.  She was very brave, though, and we were rewarded with a turtle sighting or two!  

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to the Brian and his family.  Kela and Brielle were best buds this trip and Kela was pretty sad to say Aloha Oe to her Ohio cousins.

These two were finally reunited...they may look alike, but their personalities couldn't be more different.  But despite their differences and the distance separating them, they are as close as brothers can be, and we will sure miss having them near!  It's so hard when families are spread far away across oceans and thousands of miles...but hopefully we can see them every year when they visit (or if our girls have their way, when we visit them in Ohio!).

And then it was goodbye to the Hikichis as well...one last picnic at the beach to mark the end of summer.  We made stew, which wasn't the most ideal beach food...but we made it work and the kids enjoyed another sunset picnic together with their cousins.

We sure are going to miss having so much family near to play with!  

Sure, they have the Sakuma side of the family here as always, but since they rarely get to visit their mainland cousins, this was particularly fun for them.