New Year's Celebration at the Bay

For the New Year's weekend, we spent time at our friend's place on the bay about 2 hours south of our house.  They were there with their 13 year old daughter, Sara, her cousins, Zoe and Joe, plus some other relatives.  Another couple with their son, Brian, who is in college, was there too.  Collin adores Brian so I was glad that he would be there so Collin would not be so bored...and he should not have been.  While there, we:

• Sat on the pier to watch the fish jump.  Collin enjoyed the hammock.
• The boys went to shoot rifles and pistols on our friend's other property.
• The boys shot skeet.  Collin did not shoot because he was still trying to get comfortable with all of the people there.
• Played ping pong, foosball and card games
• Watched about $500 worth of fireworks shoot of the pier and then the kids played with sparklers and other handheld fireworks
• Read a book on the back porch...well, only I did this.  The boys were inside watching the football game and the ladies were on the pier.  It was nice to have some quiet time.

;;;;and celebrated the beginning of the new year!


When we weren't doing any of the activities above, we were sitting around a table or other areas of the barndaminium talking.  Yes, we stayed in a barn but it was REALLY comfortable inside.  Each side of the barn held the sleeping quarters and the kitchen.  In the middle was the play area and gathering room.  The huge garage door could be open in this area but it was not because it was a little too warm to do so.

Back of the barn which faced the bay

The pier which had several benches, a hammock and the boat

Main room from the first floor

Main room from the balcony leading to one of the bedroom wings

The main room bar/small kitchen

The boys left for about 2 hours to shoot guns on the farm.  This is 16 acres they have just down the street a few miles from the barn.  Collin got to shoot a pistol for the first time.  They guys all mentioned how accurate and steady he is with the gun.  His 3rd and 4th shots were in the bull's eye!

Collin and Eddie



Collin watching the guys shoot

Eddie, Collin and Dad

Showing us how well he shot

While on the pier, we got to see the crab one of the nephews caught.  They were really interesting to watch once they were let out of the cage.  One immediately jumped off the pier and the other one stayed to fight us off as to say "I have them Bert!  Get out of here!"  Collin found it interesting that they ate chicken necks.  He thought they might eat fish.....and they might but the chicken necks worked great.

This guy wanted to jump as fast as he could

Here is the fighter.  Margaret had to eventually give him a nudge off the pier.

All caged up

Here are some shots from the pier that evening.

Collin relaxing...and hiding in the hammock

We thought the sunset would not be spectacular because of the cloud coverage but it turned out to be a wonderful, peaceful sight to see

Here is another view of the sunset

That night, the older boys got on the pier to shoot off the larger fireworks for about 20 minutes.  It was our own personal firework show that rivaled the town show we could see in the distance.  Here is just one example of how good the fireworks were:h

In between the fireworks, we checked out the constellations because the sky was so dark and clear.  Several of us saw a few shooting stars.  So amazing!  I loved being out there with my family enjoying this experience.


Then, the kids and some of the adults played with the rest of the fireworks.  Collin enjoyed writing his name in the air with sparklers.  Then, he and Dad shot some Roman Candles.  This was his favorite because of the "boom" and how bright they were.

Dad and Collin enjoying the sparklers

....and more sparklers

Collin was determined to stay up until midnight because the rest of the crew planned to celebrate the start of the new year.  We have not stayed up for the new year in several years but, because the group was and they had noise makers and sparking juice to celebrate, we thought we would make it happen this time.  By the time it was 10pm, we were tired and did not know how we would make it another 2 hours.  We did what we could to pass the time.  Eventually, we sat and played several games of Uno.  That helped pass the time because, I looked down and we had 10 minutes left.  We stopped the game and got ready for the new year celebration.  Collin was tired but was a trooper and celebrated with the group.  He loved the noise makers...and I was sure to put them to the side so he would not find them the next morning.

Here he is ready to celebrate the new year

What?!?!  He really liked the sparkling juice.

Getting ready to cheer for the new year

We had to have a group selfie. 

The next morning, we did eat the traditional black eyed peas and cabbage.  Collin was fine with the cabbage but hated the black eyed peas.  Fortunately, I am only going to make him eat these once a year.


The Holmes family is looking forward to the new year and making the best of 2017.