Grandmother's Great Big Beach Vacation

This entry is from Linc's grandmother, Mary.

When I was a little girl, there was nothing more important to me than the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that were part of my very big family.  Those times of dinners at Aunt Helen’s, giant family reunions in Quanah, Texas, unannounced drop-in visits to my grandparents and sharing hand-me down clothes with my cousins me feel very safe and connected.  I want that for my kids and grandkids. 

So about every 18 months, I can’t stand it another minute and I organize a big family trip.  We have been to Arizona, Dallas, and Disney World.  This year, we took my all-time favorite trip with the kids to Padre Island.  I pored over web sites to get just the right house and just the right set of activities. 

In June, 19 of us flew or drove to Padre Island to begin a one week adventure in patience and love.  This trip involved numerous texts, e-mails, phone calls, menus and even a book I prepared for each family!  The night before we all left from our homes, there was even a reminder to “go to your Bible and read Ephesians 4: 2-3.”   “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the bond of peace.”  Why this particular set of verses you may ask?  Well, 19 of us were about to spend one week in a 6 bedroom house and a lot of love and patience just made sense to me. 

This blog is for Lincoln, so let me tell you how our little prince fared among 18 rowdy relatives.  This particular house was 2 stories, 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a giant stairway made for climbing and a swimming pool.  Believe me, Linc had 18 ever vigilant baby sitters.  If you want to know how an extended family deals with a child with Down syndrome, just come on one of our trips.  He is treated just like every other child in the house. 

He is thrown in the air by Uncle Kerry. 

He gets treats sneaked to him by Aunt Melissa. 

He is included in the jam session on the patio by Uncle Barry. 

He is thrown in a laundry basket and dragged up and down the giant hallway by his cousins. 

He is monitored and dutifully reported for transgressions by his brother. 

He is kept away from the stairs by his ever vigilant Aunt ‘Nita. 

He is exalted by Aunt Wendy with “Oh, my gosh, he just said ‘I get up!!!’

He is entertained with glow sticks from Aunt Sarah. 

He is held and treasured by Uncle Eric. 

He is entertained by Grandpa Barlow at the beach for one full hour under an umbrella as   Larry, in his beach chair, would raise the cap on the water bottle and Linc, in his beach chair, would slap it back down and laugh hysterically. 

He is forced into service on the Pirate ship to swab the deck with the other children.

He is given his own water gun to shoot pirates.

He puts on a helmet and rides a pony with his brother and his cousins.  

He joins his mother, daddy and brother in a swim in the rain. 

And he is adored by me.

You know what makes this so remarkable?  Linc was treated no differently that any of the other children in the house (and there were a bunch of them).  We love them all so much.

It is so important to me to instill that sense of family in all of them. But they are scattered from Denver to Austin and those days of dropping in unannounced on family are as obsolete as the big family car that use to allow one child to travel in the shelf of the backseat, snuggled up to the rear window. I want this little boy to know that the Myricks, the Hintons and the Barlows love him just like they love Abbi, Katy, Nico, Jude, Audrey, Barron and Lily.