Whalen Family Week

Susannah (14), Sarah (16) and Abby (nearly 13)

Sydney (10), Eva (7) and Samuel (5) -- ready for the pool!

All the grandchildren at the zoo.

Front row: Samuel, Eva

Second Row: Sydney, Susannah, Sarah, Abby

Back row: Logan (11), Colin (13), Ryan (9)

Only about a month late on this post. We had a wonderful time in West Virginia in early July. Unfortunately, my parents were not able to be there this year, and we all missed them in our own ways. Eva especially missed them early in the morning, because she is typically the first grandchild to arise, and she would enjoy a little time in the common area with Mimi and Popaw before everyone else got up. So, she missed that. I missed beating my dad at gin! More than that though we missed their contributions to conversations and their laughter and delight in their grandchildren. We’re looking forward to next year, when they will be with us and we’ll all be venturing to North Carolina instead of West Virginia.

We all had a great time together. Now that most of the kids are older, the dynamic is a little different. We adults had the chance to read more and talk with one another more. We even had an adult-siblings/spouses dinner out the last night. We took full advantage of all the activities at Oglebay – miniature golf, pedal boating, zoo, and of course the pool several times. We enjoyed interesting conversation over dinner, sparked a couple times by Family Talk conversation cards, and played a lot of games. All in all a relaxing, fun family vacation.