Family Reunion 2013

I know I kind of disappeared recently, but life has been ridiculously busy.  This is always a busy time at work with conferences and report cards, but then my life outside of work has been pretty chaotic as well.

So a short trip to the beach was much needed this past weekend.  My dad's side of the family hasn't gotten together in a long while, so a few months back my cousin Annie emailed everyone and got a little family reunion together at Edisto Island in South Carolina.  

I'll be honest, though, at first I did NOT want to go.  My life has been go, go, go for a month now and I just wanted to rest.  But as with most things, once I got there, I was so glad I went.

My dad and I drove down Friday after I got off work.  Let me just interject something right here.  I get my driving skills from my dad.  I'm impatient, aggressive, and have a very low tolerance for other drivers.  I don't have a problem with it, but now I can understand why other people do.  It was so annoying.  I also thought I was going to die many times because he was too busy playing with all the gadgets in his car instead of paying attention.  But really, I was glad just me and my dad got to drive up and spend some time together.

When we got there, it was pretty late, but everyone else was up.  We all hung out just talking until it was way too late.

Saturday was my favorite.  Saturday, we got up, hung around for a few hours, and then headed to the beach for an hour or so.  The water was too cold to get in (not too cold for my dad or my cousin Annie's two little girls, though), but at 82 degrees, it was PERFECT weather to lay out all day.  

My immediate family went to lunch at a seafood restaurant where I had some delicious fried oysters.  I LOVE OYSTERS.  I think my favorite style are raw.  Possibly steamed, but I really could tear up some raw oysters on crackers with some cocktail sauce on top.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach, but how could you not with views like this?

Also, that afternoon, my sister got ENGAGED!!  My dad told me on the drive down that Bill (her now fiance) had called to ask for her hand in marriage, but my dad didn't know if he was going to do it this weekend.  I am glad he did because everyone was so excited for them.

The just engaged couple!

That evening, we had a delicious low country boil, celebrated a first birthday, and then watched what we all call "movies on the wall."  In the early 80's, my dad had an 8 mm camera and filmed a bunch of family events.  It is so fun to get together and watch the movies again, especially since it has been at least 15 years since we've all seen them.

Sunset on Saturday night...if my sunsets looked like this every night, I'd never, ever leave.

I love my family dearly and am grateful and thankful for the time we got to spend together.  This is {hopefully} becoming a yearly tradition.  We're already talking about options for next year!