My sweet girl.  She lives her life in two speeds - full-on or full-off.  All week, she worked so hard to keep up with the big kids, swimming with them, boogie boarding with them, building sand castles with them, finding shells, tending to the minnows....all this, yet when the time came and she was all tired out, she would crawl up into my lap, snuggle in close and fall asleep.  

 Moments with C are never quite right....this week for him each year, is his slice of heaven....he is currently counting how many days until next year's trip.  The highlight for him this year was making a film of our week.  He even included and trailer and we spent our last morning gathered around the table watching the final masterpiece.  

 Last year Jay would sit by the pool and watch everyone else swim as he shivered on the sidelines.  This year, he is a different child.  He can do amazing jumps and would be content for hours asking, "Aunt B, what jump do you want to see me do now?" Let's just say that Beautiful Aunt B came up with some pretty cool jumps for him to perform! 

 MK was happy to swim either in the ocean or in the pool all.day.long.  And when everyone else left and she was the last man standing, she would take the opportunity to brush up on her strokes for swim team.  

 Maddox adores my dad.  And I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual.  On this particular afternoon, she climbed up into his lap and they began writing her name.  

 The beach crew.  My parents, my aunt, two cousins, my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew, and our family.  Every single one of these people make up the memories of our trip each year.  Some memories from this year include "Ja Croix", "Apples to Apples", "Ship My Pants", "Kabooyow", burnt trash, a theft which led to my sister composing her very own song....and many more.  

 My two boys.  Love these boys.  As I type this, I am listening to P laugh and it is music to my ears.  

 We made our annual morning trip to the pier.  One would think that the children would be looking for jelly fish or sharks yet my niece immediately squealed, "Hey, look guys, a love note!  Why would anybody write a love note on the pier?"  Thankfully, all four were quickly distracted when they noticed a fisherman had caught a baby shark so on we went without reading the many love notes that were present!  We went down to watch as a fisherman offered the baby shark as bait for the five foot long shark that was lurking in the waters....snap went the line and off swam the big shark.  

 Maddox never misses an opportunity to climb on anything that is higher than she is and this chair was no exception.    

 maddox with lollipop and busy making a sand castle = one happy three year old

 pure joy

 oh c.  he counted down the days until this beach trip.  his words as we drove out of our driveway were, "I cannot wait to go skim boarding!"  And skim board he did all.week.long.  He has a few tricks up his sleeve and he had some admirers who watched him daily as he did a 360 here and a jumping of the waves there.  He is my child that does not do anything without having pure confidence that he can do it without getting hurt.  Cautious.  Well, Friday afternoon C's board suddenly stopped which caused him to be launched into a full aerial flip and, boom, on his shoulder he landed.  Ryan and I both watched it happen and there was no question that he was hurt.  Sandy hair, wet bathing suit and shoes is how he entered the ER.  An xray revealed a fracture of the collar bone.  In typical Colin fashion, the bone was labeled "an atypical break" due to the location.....we will follow up with our orthopedist.

 and Pryce....minnow catcher, shark teeth finder, wave rider, body surfer, hole digger, repeat.  

 three amigos

 beach bums

 my parents, the ones who make it all come together each year

 the crew with Gran and Pop

thankful for each year.  39 years and counting for me.