Last week we spent a lot of time reciting the first line of her song Starships: “Let’s go to the beach, each, let’s go get away.” Why? Because we were at the beach, that’s why. Surprise! And since a bunch of you have asked what we did for our fifth anniversary (which happened to fall over our family beach vacation) we’re here to fill you in. You know we love sharing lovey dovey stuff and road-tripping stuff alike.
Last week was our annual family vacation to Bethany Beach along the Delaware coast (where we go with a bunch of relatives to spend time together as one big group). And since this year’s beach week just happened to start on our 5th wedding anniversary, we took various moments throughout the trip to celebrate half-a-decade of marriage. Starting first and foremost with our little anniversary tradition: snapping a family portrait.
We actually took it at home before hopping on the road for Delaware (since who knew how pretty / sane we’d be after the five hour car ride with a pooch and a toddler). These pics are some of our favorites.
We even got Burger into the mix for a few.
And you can see a bunch of outtakes over here on Young House Life.
But it was the first photo – where we all had the most natural smiles (since we were actually laughing) and with a vertical crop possibility (since the frame we needed to fill is vertical) – that earned the spot on our wall with the other four anniversary photos that we mentioned in this post about our little annual tradition.
Beyond taking those photos, packing and driving ate up most of our celebration time on the actual 7th of July. But with a week at the beach ahead of us, we didn’t mind. Especially since the week prior was one of those crazy get-as-much-done-as-possible weeks (we do our best to double up on projects so we can blog throughout the week while we’re gone – and so we don’t come home in a panic after vacation). I did “surprise” Sherry with a stop at one of her favorite roadside shopping spots as an anniversary adventure on our way to the beach though. This is the Ole Sale Barn in Maryland where we found the L-turned-7 in our office last Labor Day.
Sherry did buy something there, but we’ll save news on her spoils (and other beach-y shopping adventures) for another post. Well, scratch that. She wants me to show you what she got, so here it is:
Yup, it’s a giant basket that she wants to turn into a hanging light. Such a cool find. It was actually hung from the ceiling (it’s a giant warehouse in there) so Sherry was so excited that she even spotted it among all the chaos. More pics of that trip (and other beach shopping trips) to come!
But we’ll also share another one of our purchases – since it was our only physical anniversary gift to each other. See it there below? It has already been added to Clara’s frame collage.
Yup, it’s a little painted wooden whale sign that we snagged at a shop called Mod Cottage in Rehoboth Beach. We both really liked it and it seemed fitting since “wood” is the traditional 5th anniversary gift (it’s fitting that we’re building a wood deck right now too, huh?). Plus, it sort of symbolizes our main non-physical anniversary gift to each other: our trip to Hawaii earlier this year (where we went whale watching with Clara who had the best time ever).
So we’ll have more shopping pics later this week, but you may have caught a couple of sneak peeks on our Instagram feed already (you get to see these pics in real-time by following us on Facebook and Twitter, even if you don’t have an Instagram account). More on these guys once we go through the other 200 photos that we shot of various pretty things on our travels…
We opted to make this a “working vacation” – aka, we kept posting regularly (even from the beach sometimes) – since we already took a week off in March for Hawaii. That was our first blog vacation ever since YHL starting in 2007, so we’re still easing into the idea of putting posts on hold (we also had book tasks, like finalizing our cover, which we had fun doing while we were gone too). Maybe we’ll take off two weeks in 2013. Crazy talk, we know.
But let’s talk about the beach. Yes, this is the face Sherry makes when she’s approving comments from a lounge chair.
Even if we had wanted to leave work behind, sights like this wouldn’t let us. I saw this baby rolling down the beach to add new “No Smoking” signs and couldn’t help but have post-hole-digger envy. Where were you a few weeks ago when I was digging deck holes???
But Clara’s always pretty good at snapping us out of work mode, both at home and at the beach (where it’s always welcomed). And when we were working, Clara had plenty of company to keep her busy. We were there with my parents, two of my three sisters (plus a brother-in-law and sister’s boyfriend), two nephews, one niece, and two cousins with their two kids. Oh yeah, plus two dogs. Having four kids under the age of four made for a bit of mania at moments, but for the most part is just made the week all that much more fun.
But if you ask Clara the most fun thing at the beach it was jumping off of the boogie boards. Onto dry land of course.
Seriously, the girl did it for hours.
Since we were too exhausted from the drive on our actual anniversary, we made time for a date night in the middle of the week. Once Clara was in bed (and others were in the house to keep an ear out for her), we ducked out to a nearby seafood place called Bluecoast to spend an anniversary gift card from my parents.
We had already munched on some dinner at home with the family, so we ordered the things that we usually never find room to order – an appetizer (shrimp dumplings, seen below), two desserts (key lime pie and bread pudding) and drinks (mojito for Sherry, Sprite for me). Then we capped the night off with a stroll along Bethany’s boardwalk and a little window shopping.
Since we ended up getting an appetizer that required chopsticks, we earned ourselves another sentimental souvenir for our little collection back at home (more on that here).
Actually, we should’ve talked about the pool first, since that’s where we spent the first few days (between working on the blog while we were gone and Clara’s afternoon nap, we didn’t even make it to the beach until our fifth day of vacation!!). So we were happy to have a pool nearby to give Clara an hour or two in the water without trekking down to the beach after getting the morning post up and manning comments (which would have left us just enough time to turn around and go right back home for her nap).
And since barely anyone was there, we often had the baby pool completely to ourselves.
Well, us and Clara’s entourage of Barbie dolls.
Clara has recently grown a strong distaste for getting anything above her neck wet, so most of our time was spent “watching” the Barbies “jump” into the pool. Which meant Clara just counted to a random number (like four or nine) and chucked them into the water.
Sometimes Barbie was naughty and needed a timeout in the filter.
After seeing me flick a plastic fish toy out of the water with my foot, Clara was determined to do it too. Wish I could say she had succeeded, but really this is just her holding it on her toe and then flinging it with her hand.
This was the closest thing we got to swimming. And it lasted all of 30 seconds.
But we did eventually make it to the beach. And again, given a certain someone’s predilection for a dry head – this is as close to the water as she got. But she loved the ocean in Hawaii, so we’re confident it’s just one of those kiddo phases and she’ll be back in the surf again soon.
Fortunately the sand held plenty of hours of entertainment. Especially when other visitors had left giant holes that just begged to be climbed in.
That’s our cousins’ daughter Elsa, who just turned three, playing with Clara. I love this shot of them because it feels artsy for some reason. Like it would be sold on 20 x 200. Okay, maybe I’m stretching a bit. But Sherry took it, so this is not me patting myself on the back.
The sun definitely brought out the blonde in Clara’s hair.
Which, in case you haven’t already noticed, has been recently cut. The sides and the front don’t grow – just the back (which = mullet) so Sherry snipped that off. But we’re both chomping at the bit for that fateful day when the top and the sides decide to grow in and this girl can have a more girly do.
And by “chomping at the bit,” I mean “awkwardly posing in a sand hole.” I think I’ve found my new Facebook profile picture…
One benefit of Clara’s aversion to H2O is that de-sanding her is much easier.
So much easier that apparently I had energy left to de-booger. This is love people.
We even managed to snap another family portrait before Clara had a you-promised-me-ice-cream-but-now-insist-on-taking-my-picture induced meltdown.
So you probably know how this story ends…
Besides just beaching it up, we also took a few bikes rides. I have no pictures of us on bikes to prove it, but I shared two of our bike ride destinations on Instagram already. Like this one when I took Clara to the playground one morning while Sherry was getting the post up and answering comments.
And this one that we all took one evening. Surprise: it ended in ice cream. You may notice a lot of our adventures end that way.
The house that we rented had a canal right in its backyard, which meant we got to take my dad’s tandem kayaks out for a spin right from home.
It was a blast. We got a bit of exercise, took some sneak peeks at everyone’s backyards from the canal, and Clara didn’t try to stand up and capsize the boat once. It was win-win-win.
You’d think after years of blogging Sherry would’ve learned to keep her thumb off the camera lens. Nope.
The night after our little dinner date night was spent as a big family night out in Rehoboth Beach.
We once again hit up the kids’ favorite spot: Funland.
Since most of the kiddie rides were old hat for Clara (having done them over Memorial Day for the first time) after she had fun with those again, we tried out some new ones – like the mini Ferris Wheel.
Admittedly, it stopped a lot to load people in and get people out, so there wasn’t all that much riding. In summary: it was nothing to write home about. Though I guess I did just write about it in a blog post. But I couldn’t resist sharing that picture of $herdog. In a cage. In the air.
But as of Saturday afternoon, we have officially returned to the real world. We’re obviously missing vacation, but also happy to get back into the rhythm of regular life. Clara is still asking to go to the beach each morning, so we may have to break down and get her a boogie board just so she can jump off of it out in the yard (you know, to tide herself over until our next beach trip).
What’s the scoop on your summer vacation or your anniversary this year? Have you gone anywhere? Or are you one of the lucky ones with it still ahead of you? Either way – is it someplace new or a tried-and-true traditional location? Is it just with your honey (or your dog/kiddo?) or the whole extended fam? If you’re not going anywhere this summer, do you have any fun fall or winter plans on the horizon?
Psst- You can check out over 30 road trip/vacation posts here in our On The Road Again archives.
Psssst- Joss & Main is doing a best-of collection for a few DIY-related bloggers and a few of our past picks made their little “encore collection.” We really like the things everyone else picked too, and are so flattered to be included among such awesome fellow bloggers.
Anna says
Bethany Beach was always my family’s beach destination the first week school let out. Our adventures always ended with ice cream, too. This post really brought back the memories for me. Thanks for that!
danielle says
we already took our summer vacation- drove cross country in my man’s ’53 VW bus!
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds like so much fun!
xo,
s
Erika says
1. Happy Anniversary!!
2. Clara jumping off boogie boards is the funniest thing. Or wait- is Barbie’s time out the funniest thing? I can’t decide. Either way, you have an awesome kid. Seriously.
3. We just got back from Michigan where we attended my family reunion. Fifty people at my grandparents’ house in the woods. Oh man. It was fun, it was chaotic. Woo vacation!!
Alison says
I think it’s kinda funny–in the ironic way–that you had a family get together the same week my sister (and her in-laws) and my cousin (and her in-laws) did up at Bethany Beach. Sounds like a great place!
Laurel says
Love your photos. Question, what type of camera do you use?
YoungHouseLove says
We saved our pennies for a Nikon D3000 before Clara was born. It took us a while to figure it out, but we love it!
xo,
s
Kaytie @ Garden Kitchen Home says
So much of my childhood was spent at Funland! I love seeing Clara enjoying it as much as I did. (I even have a photo of me in the same boats–can’t believe they’re still there!!!) Thanks for taking me waaaaay back.
Jessica says
Loved reading about your time in Bethany. My family has houses in Rehoboth and Fenwick Island, so you’re right in between :) I’ll be there next week so I’ll have to try out the restaurant you went to!
Chelsea T says
My hubby and I are celebrating our 6th anniversary next week in NYC. He’s been several times (pre-9/11) but this will be my first visit. I’m so excited! We are hoping to ride bikes in Central Park. :) Any tips for other Manhattan sites we should be sure to see?
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh go to the Central Park Zoo! And walk around on Broadway in Soho (great shopping, food, and people watching).
xo,
s
Liz says
Wondering how you painted the hallway/entryway by your stairs. It is grey with some white mixed in.
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure I understand what you mean. Our house doesn’t have stairs. Is it possible you’re thinking of someone else’s?
xo,
s
Sue says
Wow we just missed you, we’re in Bethany now. I don’t know how your weather was last week, but it was 105 here today. I love the beach, but that heat was a bit too much!
YoungHouseLove says
Oof, that’s hot! Hope you stay cool and have fun!
xo,
s
Leah B says
Hello friends! (in my head we’re friends, at least!)
I just bought my first home *simultaneously cheers and cries thinking of all the work to do* and need some YHL advice! I have a small window IN my shower (1963 architecture!), which I love for the light but hate for the neighbors/spectators. It has blinds in it now, but I’m not a fan since they are gross and a little moldy. Ick! I’d like to frost the window so I can remove the blinds and not scar my neighbors for life, but I’m a little concerned because it’d be impossible to keep the window from getting wet. Do you think the frosting sheets you have used would hold up to getting a little wet daily? Or do you have any other waterproof ideas?
YoungHouseLove says
I think it should hold up – it’s definitely worth a try! Good luck and congrats on the new place!
xo,
s
Stephanie says
If the sheets don’t hold up, they make window frosting spray paint. I’ve seen it in home depot.
Leah B says
Thanks Sherry and Stephanie! And Sherry, so sorry to hear of your huge loss. Aunt Kay Kay sounds like a beautiful person. Praying for your family!
John@RemodelingBIBLE says
Looks like you had a fantastic trip! God bless you.
Lauren says
Sherry – has anyone told you how much you look like actress Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones? I think the resemblance is striking!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, I get that a lot! We started watching it and even I have to agree- I think we might be long lost sisters!
xo,
s
Christina C says
Hi guys,
Very sweet post. I love the family pics and am reminded that I really need to get on that with my own family. My son is almost 2 and I think I’d struggle to find a halfway decent pic of all 3 of us. Also, seeing Clara looking so grown up makes me marvel that I’ve been following your blog for over 2 years. I remember watching your “build the Bean’s crib” video while I was pregnant with my first. One last thing: I love Clara’s wardrobe!
Congrats on your 5 year anniversary!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Christina!
xo,
s
Sarah says
I love that you guys took Clara kayaking with you! I seriously looked at that picture of Sherry and Clara in the kayak and thought, if that’s me four years from now I will be a very happy girl! Happy anniversary!
Shannon says
I had to go track down that whale block online! I saw it and was hooked, and now I’m thinking it was a good buy because last year my husband and I went whale watching in Maine on our honeymoon! It’s so cute! Your vacation looks so fun! We are heading to Plymouth, Mass in 17 days with our kids and my husband’s family. We went last year and our time was packed full of things to do and believe it or not the kids enjoyed it more than Disney World!
Renee' says
I am not even sure how I got here, as I was just surfing through, but I had to stop and say what a beautiful family you guys make. And your little Clara’s smile is just the most perfect thing!
Lauren says
Cute family pix!
I’m curious why you manually approve every comment? (And forgive me if that’s already been covered in the past.) it’s a great personal touch, but damn, seems like it must take a lot of your time!
YoungHouseLove says
Simply put, it’s our way to be sure and catch questions and comments that we’d like to respond to (we do our best to answer every question). But it’s a good way to be sue and read every comment. We figure you guys take the time to write them, so they deserve our time reading them!
-John
Lauren says
Awesome. Like I said, it’s a really nice personal touch! Keep up the great work. I just bought a house with a lot of cosmetic (and more) fixing up meeded, and I am SO not handy. Everything we want to do, I search the archives here and sure enough, you’ve covered it in such a straightforward and helpful way. Thanks!!
Christine Witt (Brush Dance) says
We’ve had loads of travel so far this summer (Nebraska and Las Vegas) and then had visitors here for a week. As we have two greyhounds (Lily and Bella), they don’t get to come with us. We’re home for the next month or so – and then traveling starts all over again!
Hannah says
Sherry, just wanted to say you’re super naturally gorgeous! The picture of you in the kayak and on the beach with little makeup (if at all?). Pretty skin! I’m jealous!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Hannah! You’re so sweet!
xo,
s
Kismet says
I didn’t realize Clara is a thumb sucker :)
Jessica says
What a fun anniversary celebration! Congrats on celebrating 5 years! I love the photo you chose for your collection – I tend to choose the overly posed cheesy smiles when I print photos, but the genuine laughter in yours is so refreshing and sweet.
We’re celebrating 9 years tomorrow with our second kid-free vacation in 7 years. Granted, it’s only for a couple of nights and just a half hour away :) Maybe we’ll do something glamorous for our tenth next year.
YoungHouseLove says
Congrats son our anniversary!
-John
Jennifer says
You guys got that song stuck in my head!
Also applicable: Jumped in your hoopty hoopty hoop — you oooooooown that!
Sorry, I had to. Though I wouldn’t consider your Nissan a hoopty. And I hope you paid your rent this month.
Okay, I’ll stop. Love the vacay recap! Thanks for sharing!
Mara says
We’re coming all the way from Sweden to Bethany Beach for vacation next week and, honestly, I’m a little t.o.’d that I missed my chance of bumping into you guys by just a bit. Especially since my husband would have been guaranteed to be wearing his favorite t-shirt, the same Coke one John has.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s quite the trip! And so sorry we missed you and your Coke-shirt-wearing husband. :)
-John
Meredith says
Love Rehoboth Beach! We used to go there as teenagers with our cousins. Spent hours on the boardwalk riding rides. We would devour Thrasher’s fries by the cup! Fun to see your young family enjoying this special part of the country.
Robin says
We were at the same beach(s) at the same time and got such a kick out of seeing other families with cute little ones.
We are old enough for an empty nest and too young for grandchildren = a special time of life when you are relieved to be free of responsibilities, but not entirely turned off to see what the future may bring :)
We saw a little girl using her Barbie to whack it at the water, then use it like a paintbrush: barbie is a multi-purpose tool!!
Toddlers are best when out-numbered by adults, aren’t they? Glad you got out for dinner!!
Renee says
Hope you had a great time! My family was down in Bethany that same week and totally ran into you at the Penguin Diner that first sunday. Next time I’ll introduce myself instead of just staring wide eyed! :)
YoungHouseLove says
No way! Someone else bumped into us at that breakfast (she was sitting in the table next to us). We’d never been there – who knew it was such a popular spot!
-John
Sunnie says
My little family just arrived at Captiva Island, FL yesterday and we love it so far! Amazing beach with tons of great shells and lots of wildlife. We are here bc my best friend is getting married here on Saturday! Glad your trip was fun and happy anniversary!
Jackie says
My boyfriend and I are going to Dewey Beach for Labor Day. We’ve never been there, so I was excited to see your pictures! I noted the Mod Cottage to check out – I love the whale picture! My dad and I also went whale watching in Hawaii…unfortunately, all we saw were sea turtles! One last thing – the picture of Clara eating ice cream against the tin back drop in her flower dress is beautiful! That deserves framed and hung on a wall! :-)
Charise says
We are in the middle of a whole-first-floor renovation, so no summer vacation for us this year – too busy working on projects (and spending money!). :( BUT, we are taking an early fall week-long trip to Savannah and Charleston, which is basically a few-weeks-early anniversary trip. I am already counting down the days!
Nikki says
I am from Delaware but live in DC so I drive by that antique barn fairly often and every time I think about you guys and the Beyonces :)
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! Yeah, we often call it “The Beyonce Store.”
-John
Angie Webb says
Sounds like a blast! I didn’t read any of the comments so if this was mentioned already I apologize — the best trick for getting sand off a kids body – BABY POWDER! Just rub it right on her and the sand comes flying off! So easy! :) :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Angie!
-John
Annalize says
Toddler “de-sanding” tip: Use baby powder. It takes the sticky-ness away while soothing (not scrubbing) the skin. A second benefit is that they smell so nice too ;D
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!
-John
how2home says
These are such adorable photos! Every picture we scroll through we both kept saying “aw” You are such great role models for us…seriously! I love the fact that you guys get to spend so much family time together. The family photo tradition is fabulous…when we are more settle and have a family of our own…that will definitely be our must do/to do kinda thing! Thank u so much for the inspiration John, Sherry, Clara and Burger :)
gail says
We just got back from vacation also–Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. We also kayaked, but not with our granddaughter who must be a bit younger than Clara. (She is 14 months.) But your trip sure brought back memories! My family went to Rehoboth every summer. I remember when Funland was built! We stayed in a room right down the street from it, and I was young enough to enjoy it. Thanks for the memories!
Nadine says
Random note….heard baby powder works great as a de-sander….haven’t tried it yet, but it’s worth a shot!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip!
xo
s
ashly coggins says
The pics with Clara and the barbies were too cute! My husband and I just bout our first house and I adore your blog! Very inspirational- and Clara is absolutely adorable. As a new mom- I’m aware of the annoying-ness of unsolicited advice so I usually just keep my mouth shut, but I couldn’t help myself this time so please forgive me in advance. I also try to live by the Free Range Kids mentality and let them have fun even if it involves risk…but I have to admit the pic with Clara climbing out of the sand hole up to her chest made me cringe a little. I’m a construction manager and have seen way too many pics of sand collapses. Sand is extremely heavy and unstable. I just wanted to raise awareness of playing in deep sand holes. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19334698/ns/health-health_care/t/sand-kills-more-sharks-doctors-warn/
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! It’s the first we’ve heard of that danger but a few helpful commenters sent us links. Now we know! Such a scary thing!
xo,
s
Lesley says
Same aversion-to-water stage going on at our house right now. Which is extremely tough during the 100 degree weather when jumping in a pool would be great for him, but noooo says the toddler. :(
Looks like a great trip! Love the sand pit pic of John the best, for sure.
kindredly says
love your anniversary traditions…so sweet. i’ve been married for six years this year and wish that we would have thought of something like that!
mary says
I, too, developed a strong distaste for getting my head wet when I was a little older than Clara… and I have not grown out of it. I’d recommend gently encouraging her with swim lessons or a splash park, because it is not a fun aversion to have.
With that said, your beach week looks awesome!
Jenn@JennyfromtheBlogs says
Happy Belated anniversary! We love to go to the beach! Have four boys ranging in ages…TIP that I swear by for sand removal….wait for it….BABY POWDER!!!! Works like a charm,rub some on the skin, falls right off, can’t live without it @ the beach! Someone shared it with me when we first moved to FL thought I’d pass it on :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks to everyone for sharing the baby powder tip! So smart!
xo,
s
quirkstreet says
My daughter Elysia was like Clara, and would not put her head under water. I didn’t push her and kept telling her one day she would feel like she could try it. She would know when that day had come, and then she would do it. Eventually it did, and now she is under the water swimming like a fish with the best of them.
I’ve tried this approach with other things (like not liking certain foods ‘until her tongue had grown enough, but perhaps we could try now and see if it had’) and it works.
It validates how they feel now, but leaves the door open for things to change.
Ann says
Hey!
Your post has put me in the mood for an end of summer vacay to surprise the hubs! We live in Pittsburgh, and I know it’s not too far of a drive to Rehoboth, can you tell me the name or info of the place you rented? I like having the pool option! Thanks!
Christy says
I LOVE reading about your Bethany Beach vacations each year as — that’s where we go on our yearly vacation too! My dad owns a beach house there our family always gets together for a fun beach week each year. (we live in Indiana) We are going in 2 weeks from this Friday! How fun would that be to run into you sometime! :) I would be sure to say HI! :)
Jennifer says
Don’t know if anyone said this yet, but did you notice that you’re up to 777 pages on your blog? Take a screenshot!
7 is the best number and the best day :) My birthday is 7-7…and my 21st was 7-7-07!
YoungHouseLove says
Perfect! Screen shot officially taken!
-John
Angela says
We were down there the same week, it was perfect beach weather! Happy anniversary:)
Katie says
We are headed to Maui for our two year wedding anniversary. It is the same place where we got engaged and spent our honeymoon. We didn’t go last year and missesd it too much, so we are headed back next week! We are lucky enough to have family with a timeshare there so hopefully it will be a tradition we can carry on with our future family.
Maddy says
A tip from a swim teacher: try putting Clara in the shower with you! Many of the children I teach who are not afraid of getting water on their face/head go in the shower with their mommies/daddies. Showing her you’re not afraid of water on your face will help her overcome her fear, and save her future swim teacher/yourselves from lots of tears down the road!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the great tip. We’ll have to try that!
-John
phuong says
Always love your posts at Bethany/Rehoboth Beach! It is our nearest beach, and I have already told my husband that if I ever see y’all there – it will be one of the most embarassing displays of “crazy fan” behavior he will have ever witnessed.
John’s pose in the sandpit reminds me much of Costanza’s pose on that settee (sp?) from Seinfeld.
Marisa Fava says
We did a similar type of family vacation down in Holden Beach, NC (highly recommend it!) the first two weeks of July. For the first time, my parents rented a beach house and then left it up to my five siblings and I to figure out when and how we get ourselves down there — mind you, none of us live in NC (our family of 3 is in Boston) but we made the trek one way or another, and only my brother who lives in Tokyo(!) couldn’t make it because my newest nephew was born on July 5th. Half of us were there the first week and the other half the second week — only one night on the in-between weekend did 21 people (including 9 grandkids, 4 under 4yo) had to find a place to sleep. We loved being together and getting to see our 15mo son play with his cousins and aunts & uncles, but it’s *funny* how those old sibling dynamics creep in even though we’re all adults. And we had the opposite of no-wet-above-the-neck-Clara — Ben went straight for the ocean, every time, no fear. I think he’s going to live in a life jacket the rest of his life. Love your pics and glad you got a vacation in! :)