Kitchen Family Reunion 2014

The Kitchen reunion didn't happen in 2013 so this year Mom decided to go crazy big and throw what may go down in history as the BEST Kitchen Family Reunion ever....or so far, anyway we hope. The quick details:

August 2-9th, 2014
Destin, Flordia
4 Great Grandparents
2 Grandparents
6 Siblings
6 Spouses
20 Grandchildren

We went a lot of places so let me break them down:

NEW ORLEANS
We left out early early Friday morning for our one way flight (honestly soooo nice) to New Orleans, LA. This was the easiest airport to fly into and also Dana's always been sad that we lived so close to New Orleans and never went so this was a chance to see what we were missing. Clark did awesome on the flight even though he was awake most of the time. We honestly had a lady come up afterwards who was sitting nearby and comment on how good he was.

On the return trip, he crashed. Actually, both my boys crashed. This is Dana about five seconds before he tanked too. 

 

We checked into our hotel and set out to find Dana's jambalaya at this famous restaurant and then walk around Tulane University....only none of that happened. I forgot to look closely at googlemaps and we realized too late (like crammed in between a scary congo line of bedazzled drunk people late) that our restaurant was in the middle of the French Quarter and we were going on a Friday night. Stupid Gailans. Parking never materialized so we scrapped The Gumbo Shop and made for a little eatery called Daisy Dukes. Despite a semi scary walk and not being positive we'd ever see our rental car again, it was pretty good. Alligator poboy and gumbo for Dana, grits and pancakes for Kelli.


On the return trip, we had another day in New Orleans as well so we were able to tour Tulane and it's amazing athletic facilities as well as hunt down some authentic beignets (totally worth the aggravation of getting down to Café Du Monde)





TRAVELING WITH THE WOODBURYS
Sarah and Taylor flew in Saturday and Dana and Taylor took off to golf (yes, there was quite a bit of golf this trip...lucky man) while Sarah and I took our kiddies on an awesome 4 hour road trip over to Florida. The drive was beautiful right along the coast. We got to go through a tunnel under a river in Mobile. Of course, Sarah found a children's museum along the way to break up the drive. It was maybe the best place I've ever seen. It had a full grocery store, veterinarian lab, and the coolest three level jungle gym right in the middle. Seriously, Alabama, I am impressed.

On the return trip, we again paired with the Woodburys (Dana and Taylor meeting up with us after golf) for a tour of the USS Alabama. Ethan is really into the military right now so this was his pick and other than it being sweltering hot down below it was pretty cool. No idea how they jammed so many men on those boats. I would have been puking over the side for sure.



 

Dana wasted no time finding the big guns and trying out the bunks.



 



I'll just come right out and say it: my boys would look good in uniform. Dana looks very striking but Clark is just freaking adorable! I love how his face is too tiny to fit:)

It was really really hot in the ship but the Woodburys did really good. We had to go up and down some pretty scary ladders and sure Miles took a ride on Taylor now and then but otherwise they walked the whole thing and only almost threw up once. Right on!








Pic of the battleship. It was huge. Those guns once worked but now have big cork plugs in them, probably to stop kids from shimmying down and dying.

Clark was fantastic, except for that brief time when he got thrown in the brig.

 

As if that wasn't enough, we did a quick air conditioned (bless you!) tour of a submarine. Grandpa Kitchen actually was on a submarine during the war so it was cool to see a ship like the one he served on. Probably the best story of the whole trip, however, was when we walked through the airplane hangar and I was carrying Clark in my tummy sack. One of the black tour guides saw him and gasped and said "Oooh, lawd, that baby look like a cabbage patch. That milk must be doing him good". :) The best compliment ever for my cabbage patch.


DESTIN, FLORIDA
A beach vacation has always been on the agenda but we've just never gotten around to it: mostly because a lot of the kids couldn't swim yet and parents were concerned there wouldn't be enough to do with just the beach and a pool. Boy were we wrong. A beach vacation is the best. True relaxation.

The GRANDPARENTS:
Granny and Grandpa Kitchen along with Aunt Jeannie and others made a visit for dinner and pool time. Grandma and Grandpa Wade stopped by too but Grandma fell and broke her hips so she spent most of the week in the hospital:( She's healing well though and should recover just fine but we were sad she didn't get to snuggle on the babies.

THE HOUSE:
The rest of the week was just us Kitchens. The main house was huge! It had two kids rooms with bunk beds (each with their own DVD player. What!) and a big room where Dave and Nikki slept on the third floor. Mom and Dad enjoyed the peace and quiet in their suite on the 2nd (ha!) and the New York Kitchen, Washburns, and Woodburys had rooms in the basement. That meant the Texas Kitchens and the Gailans shared their own bungalow in the pool house. It was wonderful. Aside from Jessica seeing two cockroaches (which she destroyed!) it was beautiful and perfect and quiet and clean:)

THE RELAXATION:
If you've ever wondered what true white sand beaches feel like under your toes, you need to visit Destin, Florida. It was beautiful. The beach was just steps from our house so every morning a group went down to soak up the waves and sand. Dana and I went walking on the beach every night and it was almost the perfect temperature just as the sun was setting - still in the 80s, light breeze, cool sand under your feet. 

Clark spent a lot of the trip napping and playing with his cousins. In 2014, three little boys were born right in a row: Anderson in March, Spencer in April, and Clark in May. Can you say future best buddies and holy terrors on the reunions:) P.S. Is it hilarious or what that Clark kinda looks like he has arm pit hair in this photo. Our baby is way advanced.

 

Uncle Dave loooooves babies so one afternoon he scooped them up one, two, three and sat down for book time. Harry the Dirty Dog. A classic.

 

When he wasn't chillaxing, Clark was chomping on his hands and riding in my tummy carrier, happy as a clam. Such a cute little guy.

The rest of us needed more than our hands to stay amused. Enter THE BEACH!!!!


The view from our kitchen balcony. See what I mean...unbelievable view. Down at the beach was snorkeling, boogie boarding and actually relaxing with our toes in the sand. I swear I even saw Grandma Tina get her relax on. Dana put Clark's feet in the first night and boy did that get a reaction. It also got him soaked. So naturally we plopped him in the sand and just let him get his exfoliation on. 

And when we were too tired of all the sunshine and salt water, we simply skipped back to the house for a swim. Sure, Dave found two live crabs and a dead snake in the pool, but so what. We're Kitchens. We can handle it.

Before our trip, I splurged (okay it was like 9 bucks) on a teeny, tiny baby swimsuit. I guess I had this vision of zipping Clark into it and watching him giggle and splash around. Yeeeeaaah, that didn't happen. Dana took him out for about ten minutes and then he figured out his swim diaper was wet and he made this "this is so gross" face and that was it--no more pool. Ah, well. The pictures were worth it.

 See that face: "This is so dumb, Dad, take me out now. My butt is wet. Eww. Eww. Ewwww!!"

Once we pulled him out and wrapped him up, he passed out on my lap.

THE PHOTOSHOOT
I am determined to get a sweet family photo for this year's Christmas card. Nikki was happy enough to oblige. Those photos to be added later. But I think they turned out amazing with the sun setting on the beach and all of us sort of matchy. The next day we took a grandkids photo and I can't WAIT for those to arrive. Clark looked adorable dressed in red nestled in his chair at the very end, number 20.

After that, we had one more family night playing at the beach while Dave scrambled to write out Merry Christmas 2014 plus every families name in the sand. A few were washed away but hopefully they make some cool Christmas cards.

THE DAY TRIP

What made this trip so relaxing was not doing too many excursions but of course we couldn't sit around all the time. Dave suggested renting a pontoon boat and going out in two groups. He played Captain all day and Dana and I jumped on the afternoon schedule while Kristina and Fred watched Clark. We had Mom and Dad, Jim and a few of his, and Sarah and Taylor.

It was just a really fun few hours going around the bay and even almost into the gulf of Mexico. Dave took us first to snorkel by this small island where the kids could get out and hunt for small crawfish scuttling along the ocean floor.

Then we moved to a sweet spot that was very popular if the crazy crowds were any indication. We must have parked in a spot with the strongest current though because Dad had to sit on the anchor for ten minutes. But those currents made it hilarious for the kids to swim around and then to discover just how much fun can come from Grandpa tossing them overboard one by one.

RANDOM FUN:
There are always random moments of funny on our trips.
*Torrential rain while we tried to check into the hotel in New Orleans with the Woodburys. But then they had the coolest atrium between the rooms that made it like 95 degrees.
*A crazy awakening at 3AM by Taylor - long story short they took an earlier flight after the boys got sick from a questionable gas station bathroom
*The pee night. Yes, I changed Clark one morning at 2 only to have him shoot pee all over me and all the covers. Since I'm me and I'm crazy, rather than just turn over and go back to sleep, we did laundry at 2AM. Poor Jeff and Jess were so confused when the dryer turned on.
*The first night, after the kids went to bed, the adults finally had time to chat with each other. Instead...this happened:) Guess we weren't fully unplugged yet. The rest of the week, however, we spent many nights having spirited discussions on a range of topics. So fun when so many minds get together.

 

And that's the end. Best. Vacation. Ever. I may never get over that sugar white sand. So long Destin. Until we meet again.