Newport Richey Reunion

We had some friends come to visit us in Newport this past weekend. It was such an awesome reunion. I have to actually give my husband credit for coming up with the insane idea of entertaining eight of our friends plus a toddler here. At first he wanted them to stay in our house, but I had to reiterate a few times how our family of five barely fits in this place, let alone adding nine more people here (he thought it was perfectly fine to have people sleep on the dining floor..I would agree if we were still in college). So the wives put our heads together and decided a big beach house was the way to go. I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time. It was a stay-cation for us as well. I can't thank our friends enough for putting in the time and effort and money to come out and see us. It meant the world to our family to spend time with each and every one of you. It's a rarity for all of us to be together at the same time, no less a whole weekend. I treasured that everyone finally got to know our kids better and to see the life we have made here in Newport. It was fun showing off this amazing city by the sea to our little gang from back home.

I could probably sum up our weekend in the following pic of the beach house, our bugs we boiled, and the welcome bags I gave out...but you know me...I love pictures so there will be a lot more;)

Day 1: Out for coffee and then a trip to Easton's Beach to play on the playground and visit the Save the Bay Aquarium. 

Sam's first time in a swing and he loved it!

Out to lunch at Anthony's Seafood. Madeline definitely found our friend Josh to be her favorite. 

Later that night the babysitter arrived and we had her take a group shot before we all went out for dinner and drinks. 

 Tom pretty much stole my friend Josh from me. We were friends first in Kindergarten. I often wonder if Ella will keep any of her guy friends she meets this year as friends for life...chances are slim though.

Day 2: We went to a little pumpkin patch and to the Seafood Festival downtown

Me and E and our Sperry's:)

Lobstah' rolls, oysters, stuffies, clam chowder, lobster bisque, calamari...our group wanted it all! And my girls split a hot dog.

Josh and Jared bought a few lobsters at the festival and we went back to the beach house for a seafood fest of our own. Lobster, scallops, steak, baked potatoes, asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, some cole slaw and we topped it off with apple pie:)

Sam ain't afraid of no bug!

The last day everyone headed to our neighborhood for a quick tour of Fort Adams. It was cute watching Ella show off her bus stop and the girls showing where the playgrounds are and where they go to skip rocks.