Cousins' Weekend at the Beach!

In years past, we were so good about planning and organizing activities so that the cousins on the Morgan side could spend time together. But as the kids get older and more involved with school and other various things, it keeps getting harder and harder to get everyone together. So last summer, we vowed to plan a fun trip to the beach for the entire group and hoped that when the time came, everyone would make it. Meme and Grand Daddy paid for us to have 2 condo units at our new favorite Galveston resort, Diamond Beach. The cousins were SO excited!! These are some of my favorite pics from the trip (I took over 1200, it was hard to narrow them down!)

Favorite photo of the Morgan cousins, maybe EVER!

On the first day of our visit, everyone was super excited to play in the massive pool at the resort. With the huge pool, waterslide, lazy river, and hot tubs, the kids had so much to keep them busy and happy!

(Soon-to-be Aunt Charlotte -- or Uncle Charlotte, as Kaitlynn calls her -- enjoyed some pool time with K.)

Jeb and Marissa

Cool Uncle Ben

The Conman

Kaitlynn jumping in the pool.



The 7 Morgan cousins.

Splash!

Kaitlynn and MeMe were quite the pool buddies.

Most of our group enjoying a swim break. Love this pic -- reminds me how lucky we are to be in this family!

Of course, our main reason for traveling to Galveston was to enjoy the beach. Unfortunately, Diamond Beach doesn't have the best beach area. There was a lot of seaweed, but that didn't stop us from having a blast.

Connor was walking the beach asking folks if they wanted to buy some sand, ha!

Renee was the ultimate beach girl -- all dirt and smiles!

Marissa

Ryah -- love this smile!

Makenna and Madison

A rare photo of the 4 Morgan siblings.

The patriarch, Grand Daddy :-)

And in case you're wondering about these next few photos, we were all being silly and goofing around on the beach when Ben and Charlotte decided we needed some mistletoe (a.k.a. seaweed) to spice things up. Ha!

Ben and Charlotte

Jeb and Alli

They REALLY got into the mistletoe, LOL!

So sweet

Michelle and Chris

A mistletoe dip.

Jeff and I couldn't be left out.

On one of the last evenings in Galveston, we attempted to get photos of the cousins together and some of the families. That's always so much work, but so worth it to have some fun pictures to remember our trip.

K fell asleep as we were getting ready for pictures.

Morgan cousins on the resort grounds.

Makenna, Madison, and Marissa -- a.k.a. MM&M

Jeb and his girls

7 cousins, all great smiles except for Kaitlynn. Typical!





So sweet!

Poolside.

Michelle and her new family!



Renee and Ryah

Connor and Kaitlynn

Jeb with his family

Another Morgan family pic





Jeb and Alli - so photogenic!

Ben and Charlotte - could they be any cuter?!

 

Such a beautiful couple!

Ben and Charlotte

Ben and Charlotte, awww!

A pic for MeMe -- her 4 Babies! :-)


So after all of those pictures, now it's time for a story. The story of the entire trip, actually. It all begins with these two, a-hem, independent cousins: Kaitlynn and Marissa.

Kaitlynn and Marissa

They have forged quite the bond, these two. Kaitlynn calls Marissa "Rissa" and it's so cute; they just love being together and doing their own thing. They are both the babies of their families but you'd never know it because they BOTH seem to wear the pants in their families. We have always known they were independent and strong-willed cousins, but we found out just how much while we were at Diamond Beach.

On one of our first nights at Diamond Beach, we had a cousins movie night in the onsite movie theater on the 3rd floor of the resort. All 7 cousins were enjoying popcorn and snacks and having a great time.

Movie night at the resort.

While the kids were quietly enjoying the movie, Jeb and Alli left for the grocery store and left MeMe and I in charge of the 7 kiddos. At one point during the movie, three of the girls needed to go potty. So MeMe left with Ryah, Makenna, and Madison to go to the ladies restroom down the hall from the movie theater. A few seconds after they left, Kaitlynn and Marissa decided they wanted to join the group at the restroom so they ran out the door to follow MeMe and the other girls to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Makenna and Madison came back to the theater, followed by MeMe and Ryah. When I saw MeMe without Kaitlynn and Marissa, I asked her, "Where are Kaitlynn and Marissa?" MeMe gave me a blank look; she hadn't seen them.

I jumped out of my theater seat, explaining to MeMe that Kaitlynn and Marissa were supposed to have gone to the restroom with them. It had been several minutes since they left, and since they never showed up in the restroom, there was no telling where they were. I immediately began running down the halls of the 3rd floor calling their names and wondering where they might have gone.

Keep in mind, this is a HUGE resort that is 7 stories tall with LONG hallways, and amenities divided across all floors. We were renting 2 condos: one on the 5th floor and one on the 2nd floor; the lobby is on the 2nd floor; the gamerooms are on the 2nd and 4th floors; the bar, spa, and movie theater are on the 3rd floor; and the outdoor areas are on the 1st floor. My point is, we had been traversing the hallways and elevators for days, so there was no telling where the girls could have decided to go on their little outing to the restroom.

After I checked all the common areas and hallways on the 3rd floor, I started to panic. I had NO IDEA where those girls would have gone, but at this point we were assuming they must have taken the elevator -- BY THEMSELVES, 3-yr-old and 4-yr-old little girls!! Just the thought of that made me sick with worry! MeMe and I decided to split up and check our 2nd and 5th floor condos, even though we had no idea if the girls would've known where our condos were and how to get there. I pressed the Up button on the elevator and frantically waited for it to arrive. Just when the elevator doors opened, there were 2 Dads (we had seen them at the resort pool earlier in the day) in the elevator car and they could tell I was frantic and searching for lost kids.

They said, "Are you looking for 2 little girls?"

"YES!" I replied, "Have you seen them??"

"They are on the 5th floor," one of the Dads replied. "We asked them where their parents were and they said, 'We're big girls and we're brave!'" (If I hadn't been so worried, I might've found that extremely amusing.)

I thanked the men profusely and then headed up to the 5th floor. I was amazed that the girls had decided to go back to our condo on the 5th floor, and that they seemed to be moving in the right direction. I sprinted down the LONG hallway to get to our condo, shouting their names the entire time. By the time I reached our condo door, I was worried all over again that something might have happened to them on the way down the long hall and to the condo. Every condo door looks exactly the same except for the door number; how would the girls know which door (#505) was ours? What if they went to the wrong door? Would somebody take them??

Wheezing and breathless, I opened our condo door. And what did I find? Two little blond-haired girls, pulling up their pajama pants after having gone potty in their own condo bathroom. Someone had left the door unlocked so they had gone straight in without a problem.

I was flooded with relief, but still completely out of breath with my heart pounding out of my chest. "Girls!" I exclaimed while hugging them close, "We didn't know where you were! We were SO worried! You're not supposed to go anywhere without a grown-up!"

To which Kaitlynn responded, "We're brave and we're big girls!"

Kaitlynn and Marissa

Yep, these two are quite the pair. I have a feeling this won't be the last time they assert their independence and scare us half to death! Ha!

OK, I promise, this post is almost over. Just a few more pictures.

Kaitlynn was playing in the gameroom decided to give her Daddy a call on the phone. She looks like a teenager already!

Grand Daddy led a Sunday morning church service for our group in the condo.

Grand Daddy and Kaitlynn enjoying some ice cream.

4 girls in a cart - loading the car to head home.

And finally, a couple of outtakes. LOL!

During our cousin pictures, K had to potty. When you gotta go, you gotta go! Ha!

Michelle wanted to change her shirt so the guys stepped up. Love Chris's shirt in this, ha!

Phew, I finally made it. Probably the longest post ever.

I'm not sure who is luckier: my siblings and I for having such giving, dedicated, and loyal parents or these seven Morgan cousins for having such loving and adoring grandparents! Thanks, MeMe and Grand Daddy, for such a fun week together!!