vacation

Spending time with lots of family and on the beach are probably the best kind of therapy there is. Every year I look forward to going home to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and a few days later I look forward to escaping them with my immediate family to recharge at a beach cottage in North Carolina.

Ry and I nearly missed our 5a.m. flight, only to hang out for a few hours in the Atlanta airport for our layover... the third photo is how he really felt.

While we were in Virginia, we spent a day at Busch Gardens, where we have been going every summer since I can remember. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all came with us too, which is part of the tradition, and a large part of the chaos that I love so much.

All the cousins loved the teacups, especially Parker Grace...

Jack Jack is almost two, and quite a handful, but he is one of my favorites.

At dinnertime we went to a German-themed restaurant at the park called the Festhaus, complete with dancers and a polka band. We were halfway through our dinner when it started pouring and lightning was spotted, so we got stuck in the Festhaus for over an hour! While we were there, my brother got really into the show...

eine...

zwei...

drei...

zufa!!

They kept doing the show continuously since more and more people were packing in because of the storm. It took days to get the 'Oy!Oy!Oy!'s out of our heads. The beach sounds definitely helped. In Corolla, NC days are spent at the beach eating snacks, getting sun, taking walks, and reading books. Nights are reserved for seafood and rummy, with few exceptions.

Jesse was much more interested in feeding the birds, (or maybe trying to be a bird? we're not sure which...) than snacking and hanging out with the fam.

Late afternoon and early evenings on the beach have this great feeling of renewal about them, that's contagious. I watched the sunset every night and was left with contentment and a quiet kind of peace.




Each night at the beach the 'big people' (our family minus my two youngest siblings) played rummy, as is customary when we're at the beach. On our last night my dad decided that we needed to change up the generations old rummy championship and play some hearts. I didn't do so well this hand...