Myrtle Beach

 Aunt Karen and Uncle Kerry once again graciously invited us to join them in Myrtle Beach!  This year Jay and Mike joined us.  Kim's family also went.  This year was really special because we spent so much time remembering dad, sharing laughs and reminding ourselves how precious time with family really is.  There were 18 of us on this trip and at times it was a HOT MESS, but it is my hope that I created lasting memories for my boys and that the message loud and clear was and is family is family!  Certainly Karen and Kerry demonstrate this with their big hearts and generosity.  The weather was hot and it only rained one day.  It would sometimes rain in the evenings but it would usually storm and pass over.  The boys swam in the pool, and skimmed with their boards in the ocean.  I know without a doubt Nick took 5 years of my life with his stunts in the ocean.  I am not a helicopter parent except when it comes to the ocean.  Jay, especially, got sick of me telling them they were out too far, but geesh, it's the ocean!

 Notice how far Nick was headed out.  He was always farther out than anyone else, hence my constant screaming at him that he was too far out!  Ugh!

 One day a DJ came to the pool.  My sister was all over it!  The boys were deep sea fishing so Kim and I had a few cocktails and let lose.  My cousin, Michelle and her baby even got in on the action!

 Walking the beach.  I believe there was a RIP tide this day and I didn't let the boys go into the ocean.  Once again, neither of them were happy with me.  We spent a lot of time walking the beach, especially Mike (more on that later)

 Cousins!  This is a picture of every child on this trip.  The kids ranged in age from 16 (Jay) to 6 months (Joycelyn).

 Deep sea fishing!  Sadly no sharks were caught this year, much to Nick's dismay.  But the weather was beautiful and it was an experience!

 Jayde was still her sweet self this year.  She and Lauren were thick as thieves but in this picture she was giving Nick some loves.  There is a funny story about Jayde and because it's so incredibly sweet I must share.  Jayde is Matthew's daughter, but never have I ever heard anyone in our family refer to her as a step child.  She is so much a part of our family that my husband who doesn't keep up on who is who in the family, simply thought that Michelle and Matthew had adopted her right before they got married.  Our family is a true example of how to embrace a child.  Jayde was with her peeps all week and she has added so much spark to our family.

 As the week progressed nobody could get Jay to smile quite like Jocelyn and slowly but surely Jay became more comfortable with holding her.

This might be my favorite picture of Nick on this trip!  Nick loves his country!  On our rainy day we went shopping and he was determined to find red, white and blue swim trucks.  He ended up buying flag jammies too!  I love this picture of Nick because it's so him.  He loves his country, he loves the beach and he loves the sun.  He's sun kissed and sweet!