Shelton Beach Week..filled with traditions.

Cooper's 6th postcard is a doozy.


My dad is 1 of 6 children. Each sibling is married and has between 1 and 4 children each and now 2 of the grandchildren have children of their own. 

We have been taking this annual vacation for 30 years. The stories range from stories of all 6 kids and their parents sleeping in one hotel room all the way to people having to sleep on balconies, in bathrooms, wherever they could find a place to rest their head.


I barely remember a time when we all fit in one beach house.


Today, there are 33 of us! My grandmother's brother and his wife usually attend every year as well which makes 35!

Within this week, there are a million traditions packed in, like getting the annual Brew Thru t-shirt and picking bushels of crabs for hours sitting around one two tables. Some traditions are newer like fishing in Oregon Inlet. There are other traditions that have died like shooting off fireworks Uncle Steven smuggled in from South Carolina and building fire-camps on the beach while the young cousins (we are actually the old cousins now) put on shows and sang "Roll the Old Chariot Along" but the memories have far from died. 


One thing remains the same. We have a wonderful time and we all eat WAY too much.


This was Cooper's very first beach week and he had a blast! If I was ever worried he wouldn't enjoy the beach as much as his daddy and I do, I will not worry again. He had a blast watching Delaney run around the surf and if he could walk on his own he would've learned to run trying to keep up with her. 


At one point, he was on all fours crawling into the waves, letting the waves crash on him.

 It was perfect. I am tearing up as I as I write, just now beginning to fully grasp the importance of this family vacation. The fellowship and quality time that is created. I am so thankful. I cannot wait for Cooper to grow up doing this every year, just like I did.