17 years and counting

When I was eight, my mom and her two sisters started a tradition of vacationing on the Outer Banks in large houses that are rented out weekly.  There were 17 of us the first year, and the three couples split the task of cooking for the rest. Of course this was back when we all lived on the same road, because each sister was given a plot of farmland from my grandfather to build a house .  We were close, because we had grown up together.

Fast forward to this year and we are all still vacationing together, although now there are 36 of us staying in one big house with 10 bedrooms.  The kids can get more than a little noisy, and it is quite a feat to pull off a meal for that many hungry people.  We don't all live on the same road anymore, so this is our chance to catch up with each other.  It may sound crazy to some of you, but vacationing with my closest relatives for a week is one of my favorite things to look forward to. 

Want to see some of the craziness?

{can you believe we all stayed in one house for a week?}

{my family - the only one without loads of kids}

{Zach playing with one of the little ones}

{world cup sand city}

{long jump competition}

{oceanside relay races}

This was Zach's first year on the big family vacation, and he is the sweetest for going with my whole extended family.  Lucky for me, he is the most even, calm person I know, and he handled everything so well.  It helps that he is a total outdoorsy-guy, and the relay races, body-surfing, long jump competitions, and wiffle ballgames played to his strong suits.  Our thoughts on kids are a bit like a roller coaster - one minute they are the cutest and cuddliest - the next they can be defiant and irrational.  Still working through that one :)