Brian initially made friends with this “Hagerstown group” when he moved to Hagerstown immediately after graduating college in 2006. We got married in 2008 and moved just over the MD-PA border, about 30 minutes from Hagerstown, so getting together with this group was still very doable. Everything from Harry Potter at an IMAX theater to tennis-ball baseball at the local park and weekend trips to Deep Creek Lake, we did it with this crew! So many good times. 🙂

We stuck around the “Hagerstown group” until 2011 when we moved to Morgantown, WV for Brian’s work and to be closer to family. So instead of 30 minutes or less from these guys, we were 2.5 hours. We’ve since moved back into Maryland, but are still about an hour and 40 minutes away. Definitely not as conveniently close as before, but that hasn’t stopped us. Our friendships have remained, and while we don’t see these friends as often as we used to, we’re so thankful that the friendships are still there.

So when the idea of going on vacation with this group came about, we knew it would be a blast! A week at the beach in a beautiful vacation home with some of our best friends!?! YES! But with six kids under the age of 3.5? Could we do it? YES we did! And we dubbed it Outer Banks Extravaganza 2014.

While there, I gifted everyone a mini portrait session on the beach! How could I not? Who doesn’t love an opportunity for family beach portraits!? I know I wanted some for our family. 🙂 Here’s a look at the family portraits captured in two separate evenings in about an hour’s total worth of time…

First up, Chris, Kelly and the youngest member of our group, Caleb! Little guy was only a few months old…

A favorite!! 🙂

Kelly and Caleb! I love mama-baby portraits. 🙂

This was round one for Jamie, Dennis and Paisley. They weren’t sure of Paisley’s mood, so we were ready for evening #2 if need be…

Check out that happy girl smile!

We also took one large group picture that evening. I think it turned out pretty good for five families with six kids under the age of 3.5!

Later that evening, we experienced a beautiful sunset! The next two were taken from the yard of our vacation home…

Now for evening #2 of portraits! Here’s Bekah, Steve and Baby Ben in front of our vacation home…

Such beautiful glowy light! Got got lucky with some beautiful weather!

Oh my goodness, Ben’s face! Looks like he’s winking for the camera. 🙂

Jamie, Dennis and Paisley again! You just never know what an 18-month little girl will give ya when it comes time for pictures. 😉

How cute is Paisley’s romper!?! Jamie dresses her so well. 🙂

LOVE this family picture!

Now it’s time for Jess, Matt and Natalie!

Jamie, Dennis and Paisley…again. 🙂 You should have seen me on the beach taking these pictures. I just went back and forth between families! Whoever was in a happy mood got their picture taken!

Look at Natalie’s smile! Beautiful!

Then it was our turn! We hadn’t had “nice” family pictures taken since Jack was born. So thankful I could hand over my camera to Steve and trust him to snap away!

We have a picture very similar to this from Emerald Isle in 2011 when Ally was just eight months old. So neat to see that she’s a little girl now and that we’ve added Jack to the family, too. 🙂

Oh the faces…

Excuse the slobber on Brian’s shirt and Jack’s terrible come-over. Jack got buzzed shortly after we got home. 🙂

A few captures with the sand dunes…

Whew! That “session” was a lot of work. Walking barefoot in the sand, trying to handle six kids and trying to get all of them to smile…and trying to make sure I myself got into some pictures, too! A little exhausting, but totally worth it for this most awesome group of friends. 🙂 Thanks for a great time at the beach guys! Let’s say we do this again when all kids are last five years old!? 😉