Ocean Isle beach reunion (Part II)

Some of the girl cousins in their matching dresses. Liesel LOVES this dress. // Carolina sand dunes. I love east coast beaches for these beautiful dunes, the lack of high rises and the warm water. 

check out the sand sprint here. . . not sure who won since Sarah's toenail ripped off. 

These two photos are some of my favorites from the whole trip. I think Spencer casually walking by Lindsey as a snowman captures the subtle humor I love about photography. // Byron the oldest of the cousins (and first teen) boogie boarding. 

Massive horseshoe crab that washed up on the beach. May have ended up in Catherine and Lindsey's shower. 

Ki and the gals, Meggie and sneaking in a little chat time with my sisters while B watching the gals. 

Leave it to Brian to build a massive sandcastle-- he is so great at playing with Liesel it's exhausting to watch. 

Jake with some flotsam and // him waiting desperately at the end of the boardwalk to go swim. 

the grandkids group hug on grandma// pre group-photo shenanigans. 

Yet another photo of Hannah is someone else's arms. . . :) // Oh, the iPad. 

My bro Ryan and my bro Kevin.

My sisters Sarah, Lindsey, Catherine and Emily.

our handiwork displayed. Nothing says summer like a tie dye shirt. 

Maybe it's because I don't have boys of my own, but my nephews hold a very dear piece of my heart. 

Why do we do photo shoots in swimsuits? It's one half ick and one half who cares. 

Top 10 beach reunion moments:

10: Church with the entire family! Blessing Oliver, seeing my dad speak and singing with my sisters. Super special. Thanks Shallotte, for letting us take over so we could experience that! 

9: The moment when I didn't have to do the family photo anymore. Whew. 

8. Sunrise surfing with just me and Ryan. I got up right away and it didn't matter that it was a long board and short wave, I totally felt like Kelly Slater. 

7. Playing Marco Polo (or "Angela's Awesome") with my nieces and nephews. And the general shenanigans that ensue with 15 people in a little pool. 

6. The ocean. I love love love hard waves and no kids. I loved boogie boarding with Brian, my brothers and my sisters in the evenings. I love being in my suit all day with salty hair. The last night we were getting dropped by the waves a few feet-- Brian even broke a board. Good times. 

5. Seeing Liesel with her cousins. She still talks about all of them and somehow the 16hrs of travel straight didn't seem to sink in. She still thinks we can just "go to the beach with the cousins today." Wathcing Hannah with her cousins was sort of hilarious. She was loved to death, that poor gal. But seriously, is there anything cuter than an 8-year-old boy begging to hold your baby? I think not. 

4. The mile swim. I love that my siblings love to exercise and play. So I may have ended up sea sick and riding waves all night in my sleep-- or swallowing a gallon of saltwater, but it was so worth it. :) 

3. Swimming in the full moon. I love the ocean at night so much! The silver water, the waves taking you by surprise since you're never really sure when they're coming and that most of the family was out there in the water with me. 

2. Seeing Brian again after six weeks. It felt really good to be a family again and to watch him with the girls. It made me grateful that he's such a hands-on dad. And I was finally able to sleep again after lying awake every night for 45 minutes for six weeks.

1.Having all of my family in one room at one time-- for the combined birthday party (tie dye shirts for everyone!), the Jeopardy game, all of the meals and the Ancestor trivia game (thanks mom!), mafia at night and swimming in the sea-- it is rare for all of us to be together in one place. 

And it wouldn't be real unless there were a few lows. . . I got laryngitis for two days (the worst sore throat of my life followed), the AC broke and I got stung by a jellyfish again; finding Liesel IN the ocean all by herself, playing family Jeopardy! and the decimal level of the main level.

But hey . . . that's life. And life is real. And it's real good.

and now let's start planning 2016!