Overheard: Beach edition

My sister's family and ours took a vacation together for the first time ever -- four adults, two dogs, and six kids ranging in age from 5 to 15. Despite rain and storms, we did managed to get out to the beach four out of the six days we were there. There were days when we headed to the beach and it started raining on the way. One day, a thunder clap sent all six kids sprinting back to the house squealing and laughing. We even got to catch the full lunar eclipse on a night that was supposed to be overcast. We certainly made the best of our time together before packing up a day early to escape the island ahead of predicted coastal flooding. The morning we left, this was happening:

And directly behind us was a lightning show and a double rainbow. Seriously.

The best part was that the kids played together all week while my sister and I read, knit, chatted, did puzzles and asked each other repeatedly where each other's husbands were. And we overheard some fantastically funny episodes from our six children. First up, here's how you play chess with a 5 year old, as told by my sister's oldest child:

"Start by calling everything what it actually looks like, not what it's actually called. Put all pieces in battle formation. It's OK to put your king and queen off the board so they can't be captured. "Guys" (pawns) can ride "horses" (knights). And the final most important rule is Owen always wins.

"Whether he had to call imaginary snipers or start throwing dynamite."

My nephew is incredibly patient and endlessly amused by my kids. 

My other nephew is known as the kid whisperer. He created a role playing game that the kids played over several days called Super Heroes and Super Villens. Fiona's character, Fishgirl, could throw sharks at people. Danny's character, Portal, just went around creating doors, basically putting holes in walls. And Owen chose to be Catman. When any of them didn't follow the rules, they were barred from the game and given options for reentry. Upon hearing four of those options, Fiona declared a fifth option: 

Fifth option: Shut up!

Despite the distraction of cousins, Owen was his usual hungry self the entire week. He marched into the kitchen one evening and announced Feed me before I eat my tongue. 

And the poor thing was devastated when we packed up the kitchen on the last day. He came to me, lower lip quivering, to tell me:

There's only one thing left in the fridge and it's for baking. 

All in all, we had a great week. The planning my sister and I did paid off ... a week's worth of menus, breakdown of costs, and lists of supplies neatly laid out in spreadsheets. Next spreadsheet is for Thanksgiving dinner!