caroline's first birthday

my niece, caroline, turned one in july so, the family celebrated while we were altogether. steve took these pictures as well.

this is it: an evening at mom and dad morris' house. a little chaotic, but a lot of fun. all the children enjoying cupcakes while the adults wait for coffee, take photos and chat.

corinne didn't get a cupcake. she had some fruit instead. why start the obsession with sugar early, right?

daniel and gabbi.

waterbabies

here's grandma and her two youngest grandchildren, caroline and corinne. the are 2 months apart. grandma taught all the grandchildren how to swim, i think.

the kids were having different competitions and races. steve did such an awesome job on all these pics!

corinne loves the water. in case you were wondering, this is the pooltime that ella and ted napped through.

kids

here is ella and richard. in the picture it looks like he's being a stinker, but richard was really sweet with ella and corinne. he would let corinne tackle him and give him "kisses".

hanna and mathias.

the wii was the biggest hit with the grandkids and a great relief for all the adults as it provided entertainment for the kids when it was raining and in between swim times.

b is for bubbles

this humongous bubble wand was a hit with the kids. unfortunately, there were some incidents of kids getting soap in their eyes.

meal time

this is what it looked like when all the adults sat down for a meal. unfortunately steve (who took the shot) is missing. i believe this is the night that jean made us some authentic morrocan meals. as you can see in the background the kid's tables were outside. of course, the two you can see are standing and not eating- there was a lot of that going on, too.

zonked

there were a few days that ella had a really rough time. one day she just crashed on ted. they were able to get a nice nap in while everyone else was in the pool.

south florida visit

the first part of our vacation was spent at ted's parent's house. it took a few days for the girls to get used to being away from home. we did have such a wonderful time with everyone. 10 adults and 10 children!!

ella and corinne with their grandpa.

half the grandchildren enjoying ice cream!!!

ella and caroline playing. they are a few months apart.

richard, ella and nathan at the kiddie table. nathan looks thrilled.

i'll try and post more pictures soon. thanks grandma and grandpa for such a great time!