The year of...

Another week at the beach has come to a close. 2016 will forevermore be known as...

The year we had 8 of our 9 children here. Maybe someday we'll get everyone to the beach at the same time but until then, we'll take 8 out of 9.

The year Victor made us stop 15 minutes into our trip because he had to go to the potty. The child who has refused to be fully trained after more than a year of trying, announced after only 15 minutes in the car that he had to pee. Being only 1 mile from a rest stop, we decided to humor him. But as we pulled off the highway, he informed us that he wanted to pee in the grass. No problem, we'll just pull over to the far side; the grassy area where people probably walk their dogs. But while standing, he changed his mind, now he had to poop. No problem, we'll just pull out the potty that we packed away for the beach house. Except that no one actually thought we'd need it along the way so it was packed underneath three other things. Lucky for Victor, he did actually produce some poop for that potty.

The year we spent the first day with my friend, Kym, and her friend, Michael. Those stuffed shells were amazing as were the peanut butter balls (aka vegetable meatballs).

The year Eden and HopeAnne decided to buy not one hermit crab each, but two hermit crabs each. They don't mate in captivity, do they?

The year of "the incident". The whole family was shopping at the dollar store on the boardwalk (because where else would a family of 11 shop?) when Shoun was questioned by the clerk, "Did you buy that soda?" It probably wouldn't have been a big deal except that Isaac was standing right next to Shoun, also drinking a soda that he had just purchased, but he was not questioned. Shoun told her that he did, indeed, buy that soda. She demanded to see the receipt which he promptly displayed for her. She then grabbed another bag that held items he bought from another store and searched it to make certain he was not using it to shoplift from her store. As soon as we heard about what had happened, the Good Doctor promptly returned to the store with both Shoun and Isaac, stood in front of the woman and said, "This is my son, Shoun. This is my son, Isaac. Do we have a problem here?" She knew immediately what he was referring to. We can only pray that the lesson has been learned.

The year that Eden introduced Victor to cotton candy.

The year that Victor and Andrew enjoyed a lot of quality time together, including being carried on Andrew's shoulders and leaning over to speak directly into Andrew's ear whenever he had a request.

The year that Isaac had surgery and was supposed to return to the doctor half-way through the week to have the stinky, hot, falling-apart mess removed and replaced but received a phone call from the scheduler pushing it off another week. Ugh!

The year that Victor continued to protest loudly at being forced to walk across the sand from sidewalk to ocean and from ocean to family sitting under umbrella but also the year that he would actually touch the sand with his hands.

The year Victor was obsessed with the Beatles and had all of us singing Hey Jude and Yellow Submarine at the top of our lungs in the van - multiple times.

The year Eden dressed Victor up in her tankini and he morphed into a darling little girl with a sundress. And then got mad when we made him exchange it for his own bathing suit.

The year of No. Victor's word, not Andrew's. Here's hoping it isn't next year's word as well.

The year of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. 2 down. Anyone else?

The of more memories, laughs, and fun. See you next year!