:: blended ::

we have much to be grateful for in our family.
i'm mother to four amazing kids, two of them born to my first husband and two to my second.
my older two are between 16 and 20 years older than the second two.
the older two have a younger sister and brother to their fathers second marriage. by some strange twist of fate the younger kids are the same gender and age as our youngest two.
i think that we are entitled to be described as a blended family.

 the six kids all love each other.

they get along better than most siblings.

they are all travelling to japan together later this year. it will be an amazing adventure and i would love to be there to see them all  relishing in the delight of the experience.

we have been taking this holiday period very slowly because their big trip is so close. they are all trying to save money and so are we.

yesterday we took advantage of the summer conditions and spent the day at the beach.

four kids, two adults, one small dog and a picnic lunch, some bathers, towels and a spade.
hours of sitting and chatting, digging and swimming, eating ice cream, exploring, spoiling miss lucy, running around and just being kids.

it all added up to a great day. who would have guessed that we could all end up being so close to each other?
all those  years ago when the sadness of the end of a marriage  is so overwhelming i could never have predicted that we would get so lucky.

i grew up in a family of eight and those childhood days were happy ones. as an adult there is something about a tribe of kids that comforts me and feels right. i don't ever feel as though it is too much, it's lovely to watch the interaction between kids, adults, pets and extended family.
poor miss lucy was not allowed to venture onto the beach so she and i were casual observers perched on the bluestone boundry wall.

it proved to be a great vantage point for snapping photos without drawing the attention of camera shy teenagers who complain about having to pose.

miss lucy on the other hand is always happy to oblige when a kodak moment presents.
doubtless she will spend today snoozing at my feet while she recovers from her big day out.

Comments

[Bron]

What a beautiful tale of your family....no wonder there is always something fun going down with so many to contribute to it. xxx

[Blandina]

Great story, I too have 2 children from my first marriage and 2 from the second (I knew that we had very much in common!), but the father had no other children so my story is half than yours!
Isn't it amazing when we adults overcome the sadness of a divorce and get to live in relative friendship, but it is not only luck, you have to work for this result, right?

[kitchen hand]

I know what you mean.

I'm father to four children, two of them by my first wife and three by my second.

My older two are 28 and 25 years older than the first of my second three, and have a younger brother to their mother's second marriage. The older of the older two has three girls, all older than my second three, to whom they are nieces.

And my head hurts.