The Venables have been vacationing at Ocean Isle Beach, NC, for many many years and we have been lucky enough to be invited the past few years! This was the first year Matt has been able to make it due to his work schedule so this year was EXTRA special for us! I hope you caught the post I wrote last week. It has great Lottie Sue photos and the Mary Ann newsletter (plus news about a baby on the way for a certain couple we all know and love)!
The first night at the beach is dedicated to presentations, you never know what's going to happen...
Suzy makes the trip HAPPEN, people! She is the organizer, manager and director for the week - and she is GOOD! This year we decided to crown her Miss Ocean Isle, but going with true trash humor we gave her bunny ears for a crown, a plunger instead of roses and a "Miss Ocean Isle" sash that had seen better days. I'm not even sure it was spelled correctly.
Don't worry, she didn't let the power go to her head.
our reigning queen
bona fide mardi gras cups for everyone courtesy of the senior smiths
shon and chris get some love afterannouncing they have a baby on the way
Please allow me to give you a little back story for the next set of photos...when Ronny was a wee child he wanted a doll in a bad sort of way. I think his parents decided on a dancing doll instead, and he loved her. He loved her so much he literally wore her out (dancing, I am sure) and the family ultimately buried her in the backyard, complete with a funeral. This story comes up often (as you can imagine) but Matt and I heard it for the first time a few weeks ago.
SO, of course we HAD to make a new and enhanced (breast augmentation, tattoos, belly ring - you get the idea - she IS a modern woman after all) dancing doll to return from the dead. I must give a big shout out to Matt's mom for helping with the bikini, it was awesome!). Oh yeah, we even wrote a letter with the Smiths...
That night a mysterious box showed up at the house addressed to Ronny. Enjoy...
My dearest Ronald,
A fortnight ago I found out you have been married for quite some time (and to a woman, no less!). Yet, try as I may, I cannot be at peace with our current state, my love. I have to reach out to you once more, if only to set my heart free. Allow me to pour out my heartfelt words into your friendly bosom, which I once thought to be ever in unison with mine.
Various sensations swell within the liveliest emotions of my despair. Oh, my almost bursting heart! I tell you your dear wife is not the most amiable of women; nay, I say she is the most wanton of harlots. I doubt not that you have tricked yourself into believing you are blessed in your matrimonial state. Please, let me rectify this.
It has now been nigh on five decades since I last felt the warmth of your skin against mine. I remember the clods of earth raining hard upon my worn self when in that shallow grave, but the sting of that injury pales in comparison to the wounds of my heart. I am willing to set aside the past. Much has changed over the years for me - and all for the better. I sincerely hold true in my heard your eye will be caught once you see how I have blossomed forth into the full fruits of womanhood.
I dare say I am here to win you back. Let us start afresh, my dear Ronald.
But no matter what decision you make, I shall always be...your dancing doll.
Forever yours,
Mary
ronny reading the letter and having NO IDEA what was going on
reunited (and it feels so good)
dancing again, just like the good ole days
ronny, mary and lianne (the most wantonof harlots) take a new family photo
*can i just say that lianne's face is priceless here?
I suspect this won't be the last we see of Mary, she's heading back to NYC with Ronny and Lianne. I'm not sure how she will adjust to big city life, but I'm sure being with Ronny is all she needs.
OK, more photos!
all the pregnant ladies in the house, say yeah!
each night was game night
megan didn't have a sleeve so she used her top
one afternoon, with a few cooks in the kitchen*megan let me make the dessert and instead of putting 4 teaspoons of salt in the crisp i put 4 tablespoons - not good but everyone acted like it was the best crisp in the world (good people)
me and my pregnant belly
papa tom (tommy's dad) made fishpiccata one night and it was delicious
lottie sue waring her glasses(she wore these a lot and didn't want to take them off)
ronny and lianne (sans mary) on the beach
mary ann, megan, sam and tommy on the beach one night
lottie sue and andy pretend to be asleep on the hammock
now they're awake!
lottie sue checking out the other houses
shon plays a few hands of "go fish" with lottie andandy while matt watches from the hammock
i try to get off the hammock but did a back-flip instead*please note matt took this photo instead of helping his pregnant wife to her feet. nice.
lottie sue and dalton get their exercise one morning
lottie sue loves on a baby one afternoon
that gang's all here, the annual crazy photoseated front row: mary ann, megan's legs, lianne, patricia, suzy, and matt
seated on couch: tommy, lottie sue, moi, suzy s., hampton, jennifer, andy, greg, spencer, london and teddy
back row: sam, mary the dancing doll, ronny, shon, chris, papa tom, tony and randy
*dalton is not in the photo, i think he was night night
*dalton is not in the photo, i think he was night night
megan and lottie sue horse around on the floor
shon, moi and megan holding a lottie sue
hanging out after dinner one night
matt didn't shave all week, and for somereason decided to shave out a mustache
*he shaved it one i declared it an anti-aphrodisiac (as mary ann said)
greg, randy and tony enjoy a cocktail before dinner one night
shon strikes a major super-model pose
lottie sue making her rounds before dinner
spencer made necklaces for everyonefrom shells he collected on the beach
here i am with my baby girl
randy and patricia enjoy one of the manygourmet meals prepared that week
lottie sue wears chris's sneakers one night and is super cute doing so
megan, chris and myself on the beach one windy night
sam, megan and mary ann love each other
sam and mary ann on the beach
we tried to get a good shot but the wind was too crazy for my hair
lianne and ronny out AGAIN without mary
ronny and sam brace the wind
chris dances a tribute to michael jackson
here i am on the beach, the wind was so strong that night(i did not get the money shot i hoped for)
sam and mary ann run around with lottie sue
we always end up stripping her down because she gets inthe water, she LOVES splashing around so much
lianne and lottie sue hold hands
mary ann and sam dance the riverdance with lottie sue
the wind gives shon a "tina turner" do
one of the sand castles dalton, papa tom and hampton made
lottie sue and dalton relax in the shade
preacher tony fights the angry sea - and wins
matt enjoys a game of beach ball
papa tom, matt and lottie sue build a sand castle
lottie sue running around the beach one day
here she is with hampton, another water-loving kid
her hair really lightened up over the week
matt and chris go out to boogie boardOK, I think those are the photos we have. I may find others on my phone but if I do I'll put them up. We had such a wonderful time at the beach! The company is choice and having nothing to do is just great. Our typical day is just waking up, eating breakfast, going to the beach, home for lunch, pool time, shower time, food time, walk on the beach and ending the day playing board games. It's perfect for me! We left the island once to make a grocery run. Otherwise we were beach bums.
And I MUST direct you to Megan's blog (yes, Megan is a blogger now - whee!!!). So please click here to read her post on the trip, she wrote an excellent post about it and has a lot of different photos than me (water balloon fight, earphones, underwater meetings and etc.).
Coming up: Lottie Sue has been kicked out of the nursery - she is really a big girl now. Last night was her first night in her new room and she did so well. More to come, plus the before and after photos of her new room. Whee!
