Ocean City with our Chase Family | June 2015

my parents (known to Bekah as Bubb and Nana) with Bek on the beach

We're settling in at home again after a great time at the beach with my family. What an awesome week. We were missing my oldest sister and soon to be brother-in-law, but it was so crazy nice to have six days with the rest of my family. Thankfully we'll see Kara and Dustin very soon at their wedding!

My parents picked a beach rental in the perfect location - a block from all the shops and little beach town restaurants and bakeries, and two blocks from the boardwalk. That's like heaven to me, being able to walk everywhere all week (including to our favorite ice cream place :)). The house we stayed at was so comfy and refreshing. At the front of the house was a big balcony. My brother-in-law, Jackson, brought a two person hammock and tied it up for all of us to use throughout the week. It was  awesome. One afternoon, Luke, Bekah and I took a nap in it all together. Napping in a huge hammock with an ocean breeze blowing over us... it doesn't get much more relaxing than that.

Bekah's baby legs on me in the hammock

The inside of the house had a big open concept living room, dining room, and kitchen. There was a huge glass dining table where we all sat down together to eat some delicious dinners (and a lot of ice cream cake and pizza). Those huge family dinners are one of my very favorite parts of vacation.

I thought that I would be laughing a lot during vacation week and that definitely happened. My siblings are the funniest people in the world and when we're all together, we have that deep belly laughter that is almost painful. Haha. On the last night, all the siblings and spouses who were there (plus Bekah) went mini golfing at Congo Falls. It's a great mini golf course that is partially indoors and partially outdoors with loud, cheesy, fun music playing the whole time. We laughed so hard watching each other make the worst mini golf mistakes you could imagine. We made up super weird dances to the loud music and I somehow did way better on the holes where I golfed with my left hand only and Bekah on my hip. After golf, we finished our week of boardwalk treats with one more Kohr's cone. I always get the classic - chocolate and vanilla swirl with chocolate sprinkles. Yum.

Bekah doing a crazy dance mid family picture

Another favorite memory from the week was taking Bekah to the water for the first time. After getting ready, Luke put Bek in her radio flyer wagon. As soon as he started pulling the wagon, she said "yayyyy!" It was awesome! It was such a joy to see her enjoy new experiences like that. We walked a couple blocks to the beach and met up with our family, including my aunt and cousin who were visiting for the day. Luke held Bekah's hands as we stood in the shallowest part of the water, and as the gentle little wave came up, and the water splashed her, she was so happy! Honestly, I wasn't expecting her to like it! It was just the coolest thing to watch her smile and take it all in. I loved watching her pudgy, tiny feet walk across the sand and experience that feeling of the sand moving under her. After we all hung out on the sand for a while, Luke and I went back to the house with my parents. I couldn't stop talking about what a great memory that time at the beach would be.

Other sweet beach moments...

• hanging out in the hammock and talking with my brother
• sitting on the balcony with my Dad Luke, and Jackson early one morning when the town was so quiet
• going to Ocean City Coffee Company with Luke and Bekah on Friday morning. 

• listening to Bekah say "yayyyyy!" as she opened her birthday gifts
• saying goodbye to Jackson and Ellie on the last night there - we were all trying to hide our sadness with silliness, I think.  
• Annie said that Bekah sounds like a computer glitch when she talks... so funny to think of it that way. It's totally true.
• Getting to see my sister, Ellie, as a married lady - I'm so happy for her and love having Jackson as a part of our family. 
• watching how excited Bekah got when she was with her Bubb (my dad :))
• laying on the beach with my sister, Annie, and asking her questions about her life and all the cool stuff that goes on in her head. She's really amazing.
• And of course: celebrating my Bekah's first birthday! There's more to come on this one. 

a blurry pic of boardwalk fun 

I might have to keep adding to that list as I think of things. One day when we were out looking for some beach artwork, my dad pointed out a sign that said "What happens at the beach is laughed about all year long". That is so true. Man, I love that family time so much. Thanks for following along as I shared about our week - it was really such a sweet time with my family.

How was your week? Any family vacations coming up for you? :)

Love,
Bonnie