Smylie Beach Vacation 2009.

Top Ten favorite things:

10. When one person toasts a bagel, everyone toasts a bagel.
9. The sheer volume of nine grandchildren in one small space.
8. All of the near death experiences.
7. Feeling like a 15-year old girl on the ocean waverunner.
6. Donna, with her beautiful hair and skin, so generous, so attentive, so helpful.
5. My irish father-in-law and his irish sister, pleasing us with their accents and jokes.
4. Simone's bum.
3. Gracie's frequent full body deep cleans. She doesn't like to be sandy.
2. Jessie's twice daily diet cokes from the market across the street.

1. This family. This massive group of people who are truly in love with each other.

Off.

We are leaving for our annual Smylie beach vacation. Have I mentioned how much I love all of these people? Have I mentioned how lucky I am to be part of this group? Have I told you how much I love my parents in law? We are headed to the beach for an entire week! Last year, I was in my 40th week of pregnancy with Lillie and was on the edge of my seat to see her beautifulness! She arrived the day we got home. Rather forcefully, I might add.

I am so excited. SOOOOOOOO excited. We cook for one another and when we're not cooking or playing games, we're on the beach, sitting, walking, relaxing, eating piles of junk food, laughing over the babies and taking photos. Sand gets tracked in the house constantly and there's always at least one naked kid running around. And the evenings are so nice! After dinner, we put on loose cotton and migrate slowly out onto the shore. We sing songs and play. And none of us ever want to leave.

Sunday Afternoon.

These photos are the only way I can express how it felt to hang out on the beach with my two oldest girls. The best way I can paint a picture of how they were together and how beautiful they looked with salt water in their hair. A perfect day. Eighty degrees, a gentle wind, and no fighting for two hours straight.