We spent the very best four days in Crescent Beach, Florida for the 37th Annual Kearney Reunion. The ocean was aqua, the sand was white, the weather was perfect, and the company couldn’t be beat! Corrine and her boys planned the very best reunion with just the right balance of activities to keep you busy and downtime to frolic like dolphins in the surf. It was also Suelen’s first time meeting the Kearneys and all we heard afterwards was “fun, crazy, and funny!”

Can’t imagine why she would think that…here is just a glimpse into the weekend…

FRIDAY:

We packed up our suitcases with all the essentials of the Kearney Reunion: 3 different costumes, 4 bathing suits, and 1 change of underwear. We tried our best to explain to Suelen why she needed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume on vacation and eventually gave up and figured she would just have to experience it herself to believe it. We flew from DCA to Orlando without any issues….whew!

We then hopped in our rental car for the 2 hour (torrential downpour) trek to Beachers Lodge, just south of S. Augustine, our home away from home for the next 3 nights:

We arrived at 9 PM with exhausted babies and immediately caught glimpse of all the Kearneys in the Conference Room right by the parking lot (our home base for the weekend). My mom immediately stole Caroline away from us, who didn’t seem to mind one bit:

The theme of the reunion was superheroes and the room was decked out in superhero decor. So awesome! Shortly after we arrived, so did our Shipt order–which included food AND booze for the weekend. What a WIN! We never once had to load up our babies and go to the store–everything we had was right there. That meant we got to spend all of our time hanging out with these clowns…yes check out Uncle Bill’s shirt:

That first night, we set up our two pack n plays and put Caroline and Vivi down as best we could–they were so excited too! Suelen also crashed early. Mike and I chatted a bit with family while enjoying some White Claw (we had one cell phone with us and another on speaker in the babies’ room) and eventually hit the hay. We knew we had a big day ahead!

SATURDAY:

I was itching to get down to that aqua water bright ans early and so after what seemed like forever of pumping, breakfast, potty, swimsuits, sunscreen, snack packing, water bottle filling, and towel grabbing, we hit the beach! Just in time for Carly’s super IMPRESSIVE beach yoga class!

Vivi and I made a cameo at the very end of class…just in time for shavasana (they best part of yoga) during which Carly has PLANNED AHEAD and distributed ICE COLD lemongrass-infused washcloths for EACH yoga participant. It was soooo wonderful! I can still feel it on my face.

Here we all are, refreshed after the towel distribution–quite a showing for an 8:30 am class for a bunch of night owls! Carly was FANTASTIC. I told her she needed to get certified for pre and post natal yoga and she would make a killing.

We spend the most glorious morning doing exactly what I had hoped!

Eventually we took a quick dip in the pool, where these cousins wasted no time being adorable:

Lisa, being Queen of All Things Fun Especially For LIttle People, hosted a brownie-baking party in her room for the little ones (soo brave!) She thought of EVERYTHING. The bowls. The whisks. The icing. The SPRINKLES…oh the sprinkles. I think Caroline is still dreaming about those sprinkles. Lisa even had the finished product already ready for them to sample before they began their own assignment–knowing they would not be able to wait long enough to enjoy the fruits of their own labor. So smart.

The older cousins…the masterminds who made sure the brownies prepared by toddlers were actually edible:

It’s just a shame Caroline didn’t love Heather at all…

Lisa also gave each kid a game (Caroline got the sneaky squirrel! and she gave Vivi the cutest little cloth book!) My mom also gave the kiddos their very own Kearney t-shirts. Here are Mom and Vivi twinning:

After lunch, it was time for games on the beach and of course they were crazy. Some involved feathers and duck tape as a sort of relay…others involved trying to retrieve a rubber ducky in the ocean and run it ashore, and a third was a race in a circle around cones trying to tag the slowest buffalo of another team. I got flung like a slingshot for that one! Suelen as a good sport…but you could tell she thought we were nuts!!

And of course Mom and Billy got into a sand wrestling match…so glad Mere spent MONTHS getting that shoulder back in shape!

That night was three big events: the first was a Celebration of Kelly for her high school graduation. We got to take the mic as a family and say Congrats Kelly and Caroline could NOT get enough of the mic. She kept grabbing it and everyone cracked up.

Next up was the oh-so-stressful-but-isn’t-it-fun Talent Show. Mike and I did a skit with Mom, Suelen, Caroline, and Vivi where we split the stage and had one half be Mike and me out on a Date Night and the other half of the stage be Mom and Suelen taking care of the kids…for everything Mike and I said we didn’t want them to do, they did–like NO junk food, no playing with makeup, no watching screens, etc. It was cute. And Caroline was a total ham.

Third was Impromptu Karaoke Night!! We had Disney hits, family songs, Top 40, oldies, and more. Everyone got into it! The highlight for me was watching Heather, Brittany, and Carly perform “Somebody to Love.” Hilarious.

Here are some of us ladies, maybe doing Tik Tok?? Goodbye Earl? Single Ladies? Stop in the Name of Love? Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Could be any….we covered a lot of ground that night!

And we eventually shut down the place with New York, New York, because OF COURSE. You just have to end on Grandma Fancy’s favorite song.

SUNDAY:

Rise and shine with these two! We did alllll the things in the morning:

And eventually made it to the pool!

Some lasted longer than others…

Sweet girl!

We had lunch and played in the ocean for the afternoon. No pictures because how do you take photos when you are frolicking like a dolphin? I caught and rode a few good waves in! Then it was time to don our superhero apparel:

Because those photos weren’t going to scavenger hunt themselves!

First though, people just wanted to pose:

Then we got down to team scavenger hunt business. First up was Posing with Beacher’s Lodge:

Next: We’re Flying!

Then: How very zen of you!

Next up: Now that’s a tight fit!

Followed by: I’ll Save You!

Tiny Wonder Woman Caroline almost had enough of the whole affair:

But we lured her back with (what else?) a cookie.

Next up, we flew our superhero selves to St. Augustine, where we hopped aboard a sunset cruise. Yes still in costume. I am sure the normal patrons enjoyed having us. Especially when 30 seconds after we got on the boat, the bar ran out of Bud Light and the Kearneys were all like WHAT DO WE DO?? Coors Light for the win (but there was still a LOT of grumbling).

We closed out the night with a Pizza Party, more karaoke, and getting all of mom’s sisters to dance and sing to their favorite oldies. It was a fantastic night that seemed to never end.

MONDAY:

We bumped our checkout to noon to give us a little more time in the pool and that was so fun! We took over this donut raft from 2 other little kids and names it the Donut Express. It became out vessel and all 4 kids (Caroline and Pressy plus the raft’s rightful owners) rode it at one time, laughing, slipping off, and singing “fa la la la la la la” which is definitely a Christmas tune but hey they all got it and loved it!

Caroline got braver and braver in the water, inspired by her hero Pressy. She loved having me throw her high into the air and can jump off the edge of the pool now like a boss. Swimming lessons here we come!

At 11 am we went back to our hotel room and had a whirlwind of getting changed/packed up/headed out. We had been saying goodbye all morning to everyone, which is always the hardest part of the reunion. We traveled down A1A a bit and had lunch with the St. Pete crowd, minus Mom (who had left earlier for Lauderdale), but plus Louis, who was leading to Jax.

Here is Pressy being ‘King of the Cousins’ at lunch, playing peek a boo with Vivi:

And also sharing his key lime pie, which Caroline first called ‘Caroline pie’ and then later ‘pineapple pie:’

Right before we headed out, Tommie got this great shot of Pa and his grandkids, with their Kay Kay shirts:

Thank you Crescent Beach for a FABULOUS time!!! We hope to be back soon!