4th of July!

For 20 years I have been spending my July 4th holiday at Sunset Beach.  It all started with the four of us....Rachel, their Dad George, me and Rebecca in 1994!

Hard to believe now we have 19 people making this annual beach trip!  With this many people it gets crowded and hectic at times, but the more the merrier on this trip!  The kids absolutely loved the beach.  They have no fear of sand or water!  They weren't as much of a handful as we thought they would be.  Minus a little shorter naps some days they were such troopers!  This group is very into planned days and nights and most night we spend playing games.  For years the only game we played was charades.  We have maxed out every singer, movie, tv show and book we know so Rebecca is the creative one who always comes up with new fresh ideas!  This year we played Hollywood game night and Celebrity.  Both were big hits!

 Rachel and I got the kids lots of matching pjs, clothes and a bathing suit for the trip.  They are like cousins so we felt we could pull it off...how cute do they look???

 Graham loved all the extra attention from Aunt Rachel!

 Sunset Beach is so calm and has a very wide beach with pure sand- not all the shells that a lot of beaches have!  We really enjoyed playing in the water this time.

 This one was walking all over the beach!  Last beach trip she couldn't walk...walking made it so much easier!!!

 Step loves to read and sun bathe!

 Uncle Andy with Ellie and Adam splashing in the waves!

 Graham would grab your hand and then point to everything...."eh....that....eh"  Sweet Rebecca showing him around.

 Ellie has been a daddys girl lately!

 Sweet beach hugs.

 Kids again loved the outdoor shower!  We took every shower outside together...they thought this was so funny!

One of my favorite lunches of all times!  Beer, cool ranch doritos and chicken salad on a greek salad!

 Aunt BecBec bought them a new toy!  No wonder they love her so much!

 George made his traditional famous meatballs!

 We have a small house with no stairs so G and E haven't ever really been around stairs.... they loved climbing up and down...up and down!

 Both loved George's meatballs too!

One day it rained (and hurricaned) all day.  Ryan and Andy actually woke up really early and played golf.  Yes they were the only people who played that day in the pouring rain and wind gust, but they were thrilled to say they played in a hurricane.  After the guys being gone all morning Rachel and I were getting cabin fever inside with 4 kids who wanted to go outside to the beach so we waited for Ryan and Andy to get home and took everyone to the Aquarium!!!

 The Jelly Fish tank was a big hit!

 Me and Graham in the fish bubble.

 Shark Tunnel!

 We got home in time for a cookout (with a grill under the covered porch) and more games!  Ryan and Andy also took the kids to see the huge waves during a break from the rain.

Games on the porch.

 The next day was perfect weather!

Happy July 4th!!!

 The four of us.

 The Lee family.

 The "triplets"

 We took the kids to eat ice cream- another tradition at Sunset for this crew.  My kids have never had ice cream (a bite of frozen yogurt once and a few licks of a healthy popsicle is about all)

 And another gorgeous day on the beach!

 Sweet sisters.

 Adam warming up the corn hole set for the annual tournament.

 Rachel looks good with three kids doesn't she:)

 The Lee family.

 All the kids!

 Loved these two chasing each other around.

 To get Ellie to stop eating sand we constantly offer snacks on the beach.

 The tournament was long with this big group and I made it to the final round, but lost:(

 Since it was the last night at the beach and no one really wanted to cook for 19 people again we ordered pizza on the beach!  Best. Idea. Ever.

 Me with my special gluten free pizza.

 My kids will never eat pizza and we have tried a lot cause Ryan and I love it....but let me tell you this kid now loves it!!!

 Here is a pic of the entire group!

 We stayed on the beach until the sun went down!  What a great way to end a fun week.

 And of course the next morning while we ran around picking up and packing the cars these four cuties played outside in their matching patriotic pjs!  So neat to see how much this group changes from year to year and how special this little beach is to our family.  Hope everyone had a safe and fun July 4th!