A Day At The Beach

On Monday, I drove down to Sandy Hook with my parents and younger brother for a family beach day. We had decided on Sandy Hook because it was a convenient place to meet my aunt, uncle, and cousins who live in Pennsylvania. My mother comes from a large family, with four brothers and four sisters. As a result, I have 16 first cousins on my mother's side alone. Several of these cousins are married and already have children of their own, so that makes for one big extended family! On Monday we were meeting:

• My Aunt Sue and Uncle Frank
• Their son Frankie, his wife Lisa, and their two children
• Their son Michael, his girlfriend, and his son
• Their son Christopher
• Their daughter Alyssa
• My cousin Keri, her husband Louis, and their two children
• My cousin Shannon

Needless to say, we were a big group! We spread out some blankets, chairs, and umbrellas and lathered on the sunscreen. Keri brought a cooler that doubled as a stereo with speakers, so we hooked up Alyssa's iPod for some music. When it became too hot in the sun, we headed down to the water to cool off.

All of the cousins ran into the water, with my Aunt Sue close behind. My uncle and parents stayed at the blanket to watch the little ones, as the waves were too rough for them to join us. We swam out past the breakers and bobbed up and down in the waves together. My cousin Frankie commented that the experience was a flashback to twenty years ago and he was right. As little children, we grew up more like siblings than cousins. It wasn't unusual to see them multiple times a week and, with all the sleepovers, we practically lived at each others houses. Now, we're lucky if we see each other more than once every few months. I commented that, back in the old beach days, Alyssa and Shannon hadn't even been born and noted how quickly time flew by. We were all quiet for a moment before my brother and Christopher started goofing around and making us all laugh. 

After swimming, we returned to the blanket to eat some lunch. My mom over-packed as usual, so in addition to sandwiches we had potato chips in several flavors, Cheez-its, grapes, watermelon, soda, and water. We hung out on the blankets and ate, soaking in the sun. 

Alyssa, me, and Keri

We had such a good time together. Keri mentioned getting a group together to travel up to Lake George next summer and it sounds like such a great idea. I'm already planning a family barbeque for Labor Day weekend. Is there anything better than spending a day with the people who know you best?