Newport 2012

Last week we went to Newport for our yearly vacation with most of our favorite people. There were a few favorites absent this year - Uncle Ed, Kk and Auntie Beth to name a few but we had a blast and made some really great memories. I have to give a shout out to all of the people who check the blog regularly even when there are no new posts. It is kind of amazing that today 57 people checked the blog even though I have been terrible about updating it. I promise to be better and today is chock full of pictures of our wonderful vacation! Papa and Grammy spoiled the kids, as usual, with love, attention, pool time, arcade time and more snuggles and kisses than I can write about! Annie cried for the first three nights that we were home because "she missed when she lived with everyone in Newport"!!

Before we left for Newport Annie harvested her garden and got some great looking tomatoes! She ate three before 11 am and then packed some for Newport.

Loving her tomatoes!

The night before we left for Newport Auntie Ann gave us her outdoor swing and the girls could not have been more excited. The next morning I lost track of Lizzie and found her outside curled up in the swing under her blanket talking to the birds!

Our little Lady Bug loves the new backyard swing!

Annie was ready to leave for Newport at 7am - it was like Christmas morning!

Ellie Bean got her hair braided by a friend of mine - she wore her cap to bed and decided to keep it on for a while in the morning - I personally think she looks adorable in it!

NO matter how busy we are there is always time for a romp in the rain with our umbrellas! While I packed the girls played in the rain - all I could hear was splashing and giggling!

Poor Peanut was not happy that Mommy was taking this picture of her but when I saw that big huge alligator tear running down that gorgeous face I could not help myself.

Ready to leave for Newport in our overstuffed car!

We got to Newport at around 4 and Grammy and Papa fed us soon afterwards! Molly had driven down with Karla and Pat and Peter and Tyler drove with Grammy and Papa - we had the quiet car for once.

Papa and brendan hanging out!

I loved this picture because it was kind of rainy so the pool was totally empty - and then Papa and his 8 grandchildren showed up and it was suddenly full!

My Annie Bananie - nails courtesy of Grammy and loving the pool!

My beautiful goddaughter sporting her goggles!

Tyler loved showing off his swimming skills.

Papa is helping Ellie learn how to swim but for now she sticks close to Papa.

My beautiful Molly - girl! She could live in the pool.

Annie swimming by herself with her tube.

Brendan could not wait to get into the pool with his cousins!

Auntie Meg and Lila enjoying a first night swim!

Papa gets Brendan giggling everytime they are together!

I know I'm her mother but she just takes my breath away - that smile is amazing!

Fun in the pool!

Lila was so proud of her kicking abilities - love that smile.

Uncle Bob and Abaigeal ready for bed after a long first day in Newport.

My Lizzie-Bug. Yes - Lizzie still has her binkies! Numbers one, two and three got rid of binkies with no problem - not even a lost night of sleep but number four has done us in! We are vowing to give it another go in November around her birthday but the truth is - the two nights we tried to get rid of binkies last year are still really clear in our memories and very painful for our whole family!

Peter and two of his favorite guys in the world! His grandfather and his godfather.

The big girls ready for another swim - this got to be a really familiar site! Bathing suits - check! Goggles - check! Gorgeous smiles - check plus!

Annie was adept by the second day in Newport at convincing someone to take her to the pool.

Daddy and Annie headed down to the pool.

Katie was so excited about her polka dotted bathing suit - what a beauty!

The twins sharing a quiet moment on the deck.

Ellie looks so cute in purple - it brings out her dark skin and eyes!

Lizzie and her grammy blankie!

The view that we woke up to every single morning - no matter how many years go by it makes me think of my grandmother and how she loved to sit on the porch and look our at the boats and the ocean!

Daddy and Annie enjoying a swim - AGAIN!

Katie and Annie loving the indoor pool on a cooler day.

Ellie didn't want to swim but she loved pushing Tyler in - it cracked her up.

My handsome nephew - he is a little fish!

Our girls swimming!

Backstroke!

Grammy and Papa in their matching shirts!

And then Annie realized that she matched too so she needed to get in on the picture - anything to be closer to her grandparents.

Silly girls going swimming!

Those blue eyes melt my heart!

Everyone is ready for another dip in the pool!

Molly - Girl jumping in.

Katie loved the pool this year - must have been all of those swimming lessons she took this summer!

Cousins!!!!

Daddy and his sleepy girl.

And our other sleepy girl - all the swimming and fresh air makes everyone very tired by the end of the night.

Lila and Brendan putting on a show for us.

Abby with her new earrings and makeup!

Lila trying to wink - love it!

Sleepy boy enjoyed his walk!

Molly and Abby - these two girls love to be together laughing, talking, playing, shopping, swimming - basically anything!

Peter and Brendan hanging out doing "man things"!

Mama and her boy!

I love this picture of Annie - she looks so cute in pink and her eyes are just gorgeous!

The twins out for a walk on the docks with Mama!

My gorgeous girl - I can't take my eyes off of her sometimes.

My handsome boy!

Poor Annie got a boo boo right before she sat for this picture.

Cupcake testing with Auntie Karla - she's so much fun!

Tubby Time - it is a good thing the bathtubs are big in Newport!

Ellie's serious face!

Katie's curls are just too cute and that smile just makes my heart swell.

Headed out on the Newport Ferry.

Uncle Pat and Molly enjoying the ferry ride.

Elizabeth has a stomach of steel and did not get seasick or anything but she loved the boat ride - she wanted to go again every single day.

Katie and Annie enjoying a windblown breeze.

Hanging out on the floor so they wouldn 't get wet when the waves started getting high.

Katie giving Auntie her best smile.

Annie Bananie is happy anywhere as long as Katie is there.

My sweet Ellie Bean - she eventually got so cold that she crawled into my shirt!

The boys!

Uncle pat and Tyler liked to stand at the front of the boat so they could see everything.

Daddy and his boy.

Tyler and Ellie - she follows him around and always wants to hold his hand! If Ellie got hurt she would run to Tyler, if she needed something she ran to Tyler - he was her BFF for the whole vacation.

Papa gets some Molly snuggles.

Love those baby freckles.

Abaigeal always manages a smile for her auntie.

Katie and Peter hanging out on the boat.

We had a quick break so we took some pictures of Papa with his eight grandchildren! How did he get sucha  beautiful brood???

Papa with his two kids and eight grandchildren - the kids were tired by this point! They wanted to get moving again on the boat ride!

Our fan club waving to us as the boat came into shore.

Dinner on the patio!

Tyler and Papa goofing around.

Auntie Ann and Grandma Betty came to visit one day in Newport - Auntie Ann brought the kids crafts and got everyone ice cream - she spoils everyone.

Molly and her two Newport friends - Samantha and Willow.

Auntie Ann heading out with the kids to get some ice cream.

Bob and his mom

Papa and Annie

Lizzie doing some crafts thanks to Auntie Ann.

Kartie working intently on her craft project!

The three Harding women!

Ellie loves her big cousin Katie.

Do we look giddy? If so its because Grammy and Papa watched the eight kids so we could go out for a rare dinner with just the four of us! It was amazing and they even bought us dinner! How did we get so lucky?

My three stars!

Molly - Girl - she has so much spunk.

The Save the Bay exploration center - we got there just in time to help feed the sharks - yuck!

Annie holding a starfish.

Lizzie and Molly holding a starfish.

Feeding the sharks.

Our five beautiful children at the Save the Bay statue.

Uncle B came later in the week but got quite a welcome!

Time for the cliff walk - just the girls while the boys went to a baseball game.

Cousins!

Fun on the cliff walk!

Molly and Abby on the cliffwalk!

My beautiful goddaughter! She could be a model.

Molly girl in her sassy pose - couldn't adore this kid more!

Ellie Bean loved jumping up and down on the stairs - Mama had to look the other way!

Uncle Pat is always concerned that there are no warning signs but this year there were actually a few signs!

Papa can find ways to make anything fun - he carried the girls through the parking lot on this thing for hours while they serenaded the entire complex.

Uncle B and brendan bonding.

Peter and Uncle B - I think they look alike!

Grammy took Auntie Karla, myself, Molly and Abby to Doris Duke's mansion and Papa built the little girls a fort to play in! They even had snacks in there.

Bob and I decided to stay on Thursday night after everyone went home and we had a blast with the kids. We relaxed, had ice cream, watched a movie and hung out together. The next morning we packed up and then met Auntie Meg and Uncle Tim for breakfast before heading out! It was a perfect end to our vacation!

Ice cream - our last Ben and Jerry's!

Uncle Tim was out walking Lila and Brendan so we hung out for a while - they didn't look very sleepy to us! Molly ended up having a sleepover with the Lawrences and even tried to keep Lila and brendan occupied in the morning so that Auntie Meg and Uncle Tim could sleep a little longer! She loves being with her cousins!

Love that smile.

A movie on the couch!

Sleepy girls!

We ate breakfast at the restaurant named for Annie! She thought it was great!

All the kids after our wonderful breakfast - they all got in the cars and fell asleep while the moms and dads drank coffee all the way back to CT and got there just in time to unload our cars in downpours!

Molly and Lila.

This was one of my favorite Newports ever! The kids are growing up so quickly and it is fun to be together with our family and enjoy those moments that you miss when you don't all wake up in the same condo - or at least right next door. My parents outdid themselves with their generosity - showering their grandkids and kids in love, fun and time. I can't tell you how many times my mom put down her book to snuggle a grandchild or how tired my dad looked as a grandchild led him to the pool for the fourth time that day - they are the most amazing grandparents! Newport is my kids favorite vacation and it is certainly wonderful to look forward to a free vacation with family every year but the reality is that my parents make it special in so many ways that we can't even count - meals prepared, puzzles made, forts built, laps in the pool, walks around the complex, sleepovers, crafts, treats, movie nights, parents only dinners, boys lunches, girls shopping trips, boat rides, ice cream cones snuck, boo boos kissed, attention literally showered on every child and memories that all of us will have forever! I have never felt so blessed as when I headed home from Newport in the car and listened to each child tell me what their "best" was - not the ice cream or the arcade or even the pool! Peter - waking up in Papa and Grammy's condo with Tyler, Molly - definitely when Papa snuck me and Abby to the pool, Annie - when Papa tried to get in the fort and gave us snacks, Lizzie - singing songs on the trolley with Katie and Annie and Ellie, and Ellie (who sometimes gets the concept of Best and Worst and sometimes just says what is in her heart!) - I just love Newport, Mama! 359 Days and counting until Newport 2013!

GNM - ILY!