It all started when we picked up Mary, Derrick, Carly, Lily, Corey and Caroline from the airport and the boys were thrilled out of their minds. Finally, some more cousin visitors. Here they are on the couch after a long day of travel.
The first night they were here we took them to our local beach where Derrick showed them a crab. Carly collected seashells and they couldn't resist the ocean. We took home wet pajama kids all ready for bed.
The next morning we headed to VA beach. We found a great location called Cape Henry that is just off VA beach, not as busy. It was a great sunny day with a slight breeze of wind. The waves were huge this day which intimidated the Price girls a little but they eventually warmed up to it. All the cousins had a great time playing.
Derrick and Michael took care of the eight children, three of which are babies, while Mary and I hit the waves. We played in the ocean for a good hour and caught a lot of waves on our boogie boards that we rode into shore. It was a lot of fun. I haven't really played a lot in the ocean since we moved here so thanks Mary for letting the waves take us down.
After VA beach we picked up my mom from the airport and headed back to our house to celebrate
Caroline's birthday. She turned six and got to play all day at the ocean and then play all night at our house with all the cousins. We had hamburgers and hot dogs followed by carrot cake cupcakes, our new favorite recipe around here from Lara. (Joe's wife)
Here they are opening the goody bags. Liam was so happy that Caroline got to have her birthday here in VA. It helped with not feeling left out of the Colorado scene.
The next day we all packed up and headed to D.C. for a weekend of adventure. Here is Sean and Lily getting ready to swim in the hotel pool. They all have really turned into fish around here. Liam, Caroline and Carly have mastered swimming and Sean can put his head under for quite awhile. I'm excited that they love the water so much. I thought this picture was pretty cute.
Liam and Adam excited to be in a hotel and with their cousins. We live about three hours from D.C. so if anyone would like to come visit us, we can go there and take you around to all the historical sites.
Mary, Derrick and my mom were so nice to let Michael and I go to the D.C. temple. It is a beautiful temple and we had a lovely time. This is the temple that we are supposed to go to living in Norfolk VA so it is hard to get there since it is 3 hours away.
We went to the National Cathedral in D.C. where all the kids toured the church and learned some history. The church was beautiful and it happened to be a Sunday so we listened to the end of a mass.
A little family picture.
My Michael and myself. We have really had a fun summer here and we've
definitely enjoyed the company from Colorado. We've really wanted to do more touring and though we had the weekend in D.C., we also had eight kids so we didn't see everything. We're excited to go back and see more.
Here is the crew hiding in a gazebo. It was pretty hot so we took advantage of the shade. You can tell from the picture that we are losing interest in the children. They just want to go back to the water.
Here's our cute little Ryan man who is crawling and really getting around. He loves all these cousins. His favorite part of the day is watching little people play and talk. My mom kept him in her hotel room and gave us a little break. Michael and I were able to sneak out in the night after we put all our peeps to sleep
bc our room was right next to my moms room and there was a door in between so she'd watch over all the sleepy people and Michael and I were able to catch a bite to eat. One night we went to PF
Changs and the other night we ate some delicious Thai food
Back at the beach for some more fun.
Adam and Corey both taking beach naps under the umbrella. Adam still has some amazing thighs even though all he really eats is breast milk. We're trying to get him to eat more and more human food but he's loving the nursing.
All the people busy building sandcastles.
Here is my mom and Ryan at the National Cathedral. I'm so happy that my mom could come out to VA. She helped me a lot while she was here. We sent little Ryan back home with her
bc Emily will be out of Rehab on the 15
th. Also Michael started
CRNA school and he was a huge help in taking care of him and with school, he is gone all of the time. We're grateful that Ryan could come hang with us for seven weeks be part of the St. John family. He's a sweet little guy and we're excited to see him again at Christmas. My mom also helped me to get a dishwasher while she was here and so that has changed my life too. Doing all the dishes by hand with four little boys and two adults is a lot, especially in the VA summer heat. So thanks to mom for making my life wonderful out here in Norfolk, VA. We were able to keep Caroline here after everyone left to stay and play with Liam and Sean. She's been having a great time. We taught her how to ride a bike without training wheels and we will drive to
Raleigh NC this Saturday to take her to the airport there where there is a direct flight to Denver. This officially ends our summer and then Liam will start school on Tues.
Michael started school this past Monday and he is already swamped in study and memorizing and learning. Thanks to all who came to visit us and don't be scared to come again and again and again. Any others needing a vacation, just call me.
Allyssa is coming this month on the 25
th! We've really had a fun summer here and it did go by pretty fast.
Liam started school this past week. We started out with a little blessing on Monday night for part of FHE. That was good and Liam was cute.
Tues. morning it was pouring rain and a bit chilly so dressed him warm and sent him off. I was a wreck but Liam was brave. He sure is cute and he is so grown up.
Now that Liam and Michael are at school all day, Sean, Adam and I hang out together. At times I wonder where my Liam is but this is a good thing.
Adam and Sean have been playing a lot. Sean can make Adam laugh like no one else can. Sean is also proud bc he taught him how to go down the stairs in our house. I sure love these cute boys.
Here we are picking him up from day #1. He's happy and good. He had nothing but positive things to say about his day. He tells me about the little butterflies that represent the students and how the butterflies stay high in the sunshine if they are good but if they are bad they sink down near the snakes. So far his butterfly is high every day. He must love school like I did when I was a kid. Michael told him to always hang out with the butterflies who fly high. I thought this was all very cute. His school is on a very large piece of land with tons of grass and beautiful trees that grow flowers.
Since Michael has started school he is very busy so it's just me and the boys most of the time. Since Liam was gone every day we decided to head to the beach on Sat. We loaded up the bikes in the truck and hung out in VA beach. We rode on the boardwalk and explored and then the kids played in the ocean.
They can play with sand for hours. Adam took an almost two hour nap on the beach towel so I got to lay and enjoy the sun while Liam and Sean played. It was good.
This is Sean in the bike trailer after the long day. He fell asleep and I just had to take the picture from the side bc Liam and I were cracking up.
Sean is my cute little man, especially in this picture.
This is me making my usual sausage and pancakes. We don't start church until 1 so it is nice to have a good breakfast before church. There is Adam, my counter sidekick who enjoys being next to me almost every moment of his life. I should enjoy it while it lasts but sometimes I wish Jenny were here so I could take a little break.
As some of you remember from an earlier post, we planted a garden when we first got here and this is a pic of our tomatoes. We had wonderful basil and green peppers. Our corn didn't really make it but it was fun having a garden. We'll keep planting stuff and see how it goes. 
