Vacation!!

Fifty-six, fifty-three, thirty-four, thirty-three, thirty-one, thirty, twenty-eight, twenty-five, fourteen, six, four, four, two, two, two, seven months and four months. 

Those are the ages of everyone who was on vacation with us last week.  That's right...17 people, including eight children six and under!  You would think that this vacation would have been chaotic and crazy, and in a way, you'd be right.  What you might not believe, though, is that it was most likely the best vacation in the history of vacations. 

My parents were there.  My sister and her family flew down from Chicago.  My brother and his three kids were there.  Alison and Autumn came.  Mercy came too! 

Every summer, my mom spends a couple of weeks in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she was born.  Usually, we'll go down and stay for at least a weekend.  Last year, the kids and I stayed for a whole week! 

When we started planning this vacation almost a year ago, we knew we would need a house big enough to fit everyone - at least five bedrooms.  What we found was a six-bedroom paradise, with a private pool and lots of other fun amenities.  We did have to go about 45 minutes south of St. Petersburg, to a little island called Anna Maria Island.  It was beautiful! 

We went to the Lowry Park Zoo, a nature conservatory, an outlet mall and a Red Sox/Rays game, but most of the time was spend in the pool or playing games inside. 

The kids (and some adults) loved playing Just Dance on the Wii.  The adults also played lots of Apples to Apples and a card game called Golf.  The ping-pong/pool/air hockey table was also fun! 

I'll have more details and pictures tomorrow, but here's a sneak peek!

The pool, with a waterfall!

Kyran fed baby Leo!

My beautiful girl!

Twins!  Or something...

All eight kids

The penguin hopped right up to the glass by Lincoln

Kyran just loved his big cousin!

He also loved the pig-looking animals!

The house

Playing Just Dance...look at them move!