Petz Cousins

A couple of weeks ago we spent some time at the beach with my cousin Rachel and her family. They were heading back to NH after a trip to Disneyworld, and stopped over for a solid 24 hour visit. Combined, we have 6 kids, so it was loud and fun and really just a blast to see these little cousins get to hang out and get to know each other again.

There are 6 first cousins on the Petz side, and we grew up taking picture after picture of all of us lined up, standing on stairs, or any other way the grown-ups told us to pose. Here are a couple of the original Petz Six:

Rehoboth Beach, summer 1990(?) (Clockwise from top left: Rachel, Dan, Nikki, Mike, Kristen, Wendy)

Kiawah Island, summer 2001(?) (Nikki, Rachel, Mike, Kristen, Dan, Wendy)

And now WE get to tell the next generation when, where and how to pose! So here they are: half of the Petz 2nd cousin 12:

Kiawah Island, May 2010 (Jamie, Jack, David, Amanda, Kendra, Elizabeth)


Kiawah Island, May 2010 (Amanda, Elizabeth, Jamie the Bandit, Kendra, David, Jack)

To the Morris Family

We introduce Jackboy3, beach ball balance champion, the next generation.

Dear Morris 3 1/2, we need your help.

The old people are still trying to balance on the giant beach ball. Trust us, we were there, it wasn't pretty. It is time to pass the torch. Let's face it, we're younger, stronger, and we're definitely not scared. (Exhibit A, Grant). Perhaps Harry can even figure out how to attach an infant car seat when the newest Morris addition makes HER arrival. Let's show these old timers how it's done.

Love, Nicholson 5

Beach Week

The initial plan for this past week involved only my Mom and her sister, Betty, enjoying a nice, quiet, relaxing week at the beach. Booooooring. They don't need relaxing, they need grandchildren screaming in their face. So, we made it happen...

Eileen and Betty were joined by two of Betty's kids - Dan, his wife Ginny, and their daughter Malia, and Kristen with her sons Tyler and Johnny. I also joined the crowd, but first I made my Mom take 2/3 of her grandkids down with her and I didn't show up with the remaining 1/3 of her grandkids until 3 days later. Jay also showed up mid-week so by then we had a full house and it was a blast.

Beach, pool, beach, pool, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, then watch Spongebob or Disney channel at a volume level that makes your ears bleed. There is also a water park in Charleston that was so much fun, I highly recommend it. We had kids from age 1 to 11 with us, and it was perfect for everyone. I also recommend Wii (especially guitar hero) as it completely entertained the group of kids (and Jay) post-beach, giving the grown-ups time to relax a bit and get supper together.

Gary came down Friday to help celebrate my Mom's birthday. A day on the beach, followed by dinner outside at the Beach Club. There was a wonderful reggae band, the kids were dancing and swimming, grown-ups were drinking grown-up drinks... The evening ended back at the house with cupcakes, presents, and more grown-up drinks.

It is always sad to see the Bickell/Welch clan leave. But I think Amanda finally understands that "JohnnyTyler" is in fact TWO separate boys, one Johnny, and one Tyler. Before this trip, she referred to both boys as "JohhnyTyler" whether they were together or separate. This time, it took her about half of the week to stop referring to Johnny as "JohnnyTyler" and to Tyler as "the other one." Next time she should have it perfected and address each cousin by his real name!

All we were missing were some Averys and some Dowds...

How Cute is Malia?

So cute that when Jack and I finally got to the beach, Elizabeth said "you should have been here to meet Malia. If Jack sees Malia he will fall in love and his eyes will turn into hearts like on Spongebob."

That would have been cool.

We were too late to see Malia, but Jack did get to spend the entire week with Tyler and Johnny. Boy cousins are definitely fun, especially when they leave behind their Spiderman goggles. The girls also loved hanging out with the boys; they learned how to play guitar hero and mastered all things Spongebob.

The Pony Whisperers

Elizabeth and her cousin Blythe were escorted by their Dads to a wonderful "Pony Whisperer" class at the zoo on Saturday. They learned how to care for and feed the ponies, how to saddle a pony, and of course how to ride a pony. The girls loved it!