Family Reunion

At the beginning of the family reunion, we were in Charlotte with the grandparents, Chris and his family and Mateo and his family!  Besides catching up and just hanging out, we did a lot of fun things like Lazy 5 Ranch - where there are a bunch of free-roaming animals that you can feed from the horse-drawn wagon.  We also went to Sports Connection for laser tag, bowling, and bouncy houses, ate out at some local favorites, celebrated a birthday at Chuck e Cheese, had a smores night, the kids played in the sprinklers, and the boys did a NASCAR day where they raced go karts. 

Lazy 5 Farm

Chuck e Cheese

Running through sprinklers in Grammy's backyard

Then it was off to Charleston and Kiawah Island for a long Easter weekend.  We all had so much fun in both Charleston and Kiawah.  To start the trip off, we toured around historic Charleston, the kids got soaked in the water fountain, and as usual we filled ourselves with Charleston treats.

 

In Kiawah, we stayed in this amazing house that fit us all perfectly.  We love Kiawah and all of its natural (and manicured) beauty! 

 

 

 Kiawah is a great place to celebrate Easter as the island goes all out with their festitvities. . . they had a festival one night with music and bouncy houses as well as a huge egg hunt and egg toss.

 (Hunter and Mateo tried to win the toss, but came in 9th just one place shy of winning a prize. . .unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the toss).

Trying to stay warm at the festival. . .

Hula hooping at the festival

 One of the four egg hunts (they were broken down by age).

Just waiting for the signal!

The baskets are full!

Before we went to the Kiawah Easter Egg Hunt, our kids got to indulge in all of the goodies the Easter bunny left at our rental house . . .my kids were so happy that the Easter bunny found us in Kiawah. 

Here are the kids. . .all lined up to find their goodies!

The Easter baskets all ready to go!

Kayla and Ella stuck together the whole week - even when hunting for eggs!

The aftermath of all the excitement!

 We also spent a couple afternoons at the beach despite the chilly winds . . .

  A couple nights , we ate at some delicious restaurants in neighboring Seabrook Island, which had a beautiful harbor to look out at.  One night, we celebrated Mateo's 40th birthday.  After dinner, we took lots of  family pictures on the harbor. . .wish I had done my hair :-)

The birthday boy with lots of helpers!

Dan, Ashley, and Sarah! Love their smiles :-)

Eating the best shrimp scampi ever!

All of us (minus my sister and niece who couldn't attend the reunion)!

Just us!

Kayla and Ella . . .still having fun!

Emily with baby Lauren! So cute!

After leaving Kiawah, it was time to say good-bye to Chris and his family and Ashely and Dan ...boo-hoo . . . . 

Luckily, since Mateo and his family live on the other side of the world. . . they were able to stay for a while longer. . .for a few days we helped the grandparents watch Mateo's kids while they took a quick trip to NYC. And after they returned we were able to hang out with them all for a few more days!  We celebrated more birthdays, went to Fiesta Plaza, went to Chuck e Cheese again, played at nearby parks, ate lots of yummy food, but mainly just hung out as we were all starting to get a little tired  :-)  

 Can't wait until the next Family Reunion!