And Then There Were Nine

Rhys Loves His Poppa

6:08

6:22

6:22

Visitors Up To Watch The Sunrise

6:22

At the moment it's 7:14, and I've been up for an hour — taking photos of the sunrise, sitting on the front porch with Drew, and missing our great-grandsons, who are usually up at this hour. It was 73° when I woke, and it looks like another warm, sunny day at the beach. We just received a text from Tom saying Mary's Dad passed away last night after a prolonged illness. How sad. 

Mary And Her Dad

Yesterday was not the best of days. First, we knew Beth was leaving at 1:00, and Tyler decided he'd better not phone in sick on Friday, so he was leaving early afternoon too. Then, around 11:30, Mary got a phone call: her 86-year-old dad, who'd been recovering from an operation, had taken a bad turn, and she and Tom decided they needed to get home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there were no flights available Thursday, only Friday — one leaving at 5:40 in the morning and getting them into Kansas City that morning. Nick and Audraya decided to head home too, so the four of them, plus the two boys, left at 4:15 in the afternoon, planning to stay overnight in a hotel in Wilmington so they could easily catch the early flight. That pretty much shot the afternoon for them.

Tommy And Mom

Rhys And Mom

Tom And Mary On A Walk With Rhys

Keeping Up With Rhys

Rhys And His Parents

Aloha, Renee And Tyler

We did get to enjoy the morning, though. The boys were up early, and everyone else gradually rose by 10:00. Usually everyone's responsible for their own breakfast. Still, yesterday Tommy made scrambled eggs for the boys and anyone else who was hungry. By 10:00, Jill and Drew were back from the store, and some of the girls were heading out to a coffee shop. Tom and Mary were already on the beach with Rhys. When I looked out, Tommy was holding Rhys up above the breaking waves, and Rhys was loving it. I put on my suit and joined them as others slowly trickled out. I walked the beach for 25 minutes, then joined the gang and stayed out for an hour and a half — went swimming with Evie, then joined Rhys and Tom trying to catch some waves. Tom and Mary then took Rhys for a walk up the beach, and he ran and played the entire way, wearing them both out. What energy! By 11:30, Evie and I had both had enough sun and came up — only to find the sad news about Mary's dad.

Morning Clouds

Halle, Natalia, And Drew

Marlena And Rhys

Portrait of an Artist  as an Old Man

Mom And Daughter

We had lunch with Beth, Tyler, and Renee — Evie cooked some Slovenian sausages for them — and they left just after 1:00.

Natalia And Rhys

Digging Holes

A Warm Afternoon 

Entertaining Rhys

After that, some of us stayed up to help out, organizing and packing while Tom worked on changing their flight reservations. Nick took Rhys down for one last swim, and the girls entertained him by digging holes in the sand — he loved it, playing with his trucks in the water-filled holes. Audraya was left with most of the packing, so we pitched in by keeping Tommy entertained. We had him from 3:00 to 4:00 while Nick and Audraya finished organizing and packing, hoping they hadn't forgotten anything. Tom's Uber arrived at 4:10 for him and Mary; Nick and Audraya had rented a car for the four of them, so everyone left around the same time, planning to meet up at a hotel in Wilmington near the airport.

Mixologists Supreme

Hot Tub

Marlena And Halle

You Go, Grant!

Our Boy

It was depressingly quiet after they left. I took a brief nap, then joined the rest of the eight of us in drowning our sorrows — wine, then a margarita, with guacamole and chips. Around 5:30, the girls and Grant came in, refreshed their drinks, and jumped in the hot tub on an 87° afternoon. Go figure.

5:53

Dinner was easy — Slovenian sausages we'd brought from Azman's in Euclid, Ohio, along with potato and macaroni salad. Afterward, we sat around while Evie and I pulled up photos of the girls from the past ten years and had fun looking through them — must have spent close to an hour laughing. By 8:30, Evie was ready for bed, and the rest decided to watch Meet the Parents — the first time we'd had the TV on since we arrived. I stayed up for another half hour, then headed to bed around 9:30.

8:43

Photo Day!

Most Of The Family

6:24

6:25

6:25

7:24

It's 6:54, and I've been up since 6:20. Tommy was already up with Poppa Tom; Grant and Marlena have been on the beach since 5:00, waiting for the sunrise. Now Beth and Drew are up, sitting on the front porch, and Aundraya brought Rhys down 15 minutes ago. So it's already a busy morning with the great-grandkids.

Mom And Tommy

A Happy Boy

Halle

Enjoying The Surf

Mary And Rhys

Yesterday was another hot one, with highs in the upper 80s in the afternoon. I was up early, out on the beach taking sunrise photos and sitting on the front porch with Drew. The boys were up before most of the crew, and gradually the Gen Zers rolled out of bed by 11:00. Jill and Drew drove off to Walmart, the kids—loving their coffee—headed to a coffee shop, and Evie and I went down to the beach with Tom and Rhys. I swam a couple of times, walked a bit, caught a wave, and had enough sun after an hour and a half. Evie stayed down, though, as gradually the rest joined her.

Jill's Family

Beth/Tyler/Renee

A Handsome Couple

Around 12:30, everyone was back in the kitchen making sandwiches for lunch, working through all the ham, roast beef, salami, and cheese Jill had just bought—so we'll be heading out again this morning to restock. We decided on Captain Mike's for dinner, and after Jill talked with them, we settled on getting there by 4:30. So most of us spent a couple more hours on the beach while the rest enjoyed the air-conditioned house and watched the ocean from there. I took a decent nap and walked out on the beach, but the heat was so intense I didn't stay long.

Nick And Audraya And The Boys

Grandparents

Grandparents

Our Grandchildren

Happy Birthday Aundraya

By 4:15 we were all gussied up, since we were taking family photos after dinner. We left at 4:15 and unfortunately had to sit outside on the terrace at Captain Mike's—the inside only had small individual tables for four. Not the best situation, but we made it work: drinks, appetizers, then food, with wings as their special. Fortunately, we had a great waiter who kept the second rounds of drinks coming and made sure we had everything we needed. The food was good—the wings right up there with Buffalo or Chautauqua.

Tom's Family

Grant, Natalia, And Our Granddaughters 

At Captain Mikes

Having Beers After Wings

By 7:00 we were home and back on the beach, taking a family photo first, then individual family shots. It was a beautiful night on the beach, so after photos most of us headed down to the water's edge with chairs and sat with the ebbing dusk. The boys were in bed by 7:15, so Evie and I stayed in the house so Aundraya could join the group. I stayed up until almost 10:00, then joined the rest of the adults while the young'uns stayed out on the porch playing games.

Enjoying The Evening

Dusk

Tom, Mary, Beth And Jill

The Moon At 9:10