Thanksgiving at the Beach

It's always wonderful to see Bruce's extended family at Thanksgiving, but this year they stepped it up a bit. Everyone got together at the beach. And you know that Thanksgiving plus beach equals bestThanksgivingever. On the plus side, everyone stayed in the same house together. On the down side, everyone stayed in the same house together. Actually there was no real downside to it, except that Sam had near constant access to his cousins, for whom he is madly, deeply, crazy in love. I fear he may have harrassed them overly, particularly Daniel, the sixth-grader, whom Sam holds in the highest esteem. Sam would cry himself to sleep at night to the refrain of "I want to play with Daniellllll!!!!!" And then, in the fog of near sleep, "I want to play with Donna!!!!" (But we knew he meant Daniel. Donna is the nice lady who cuts his hair.)

The lesson I learned about Thanksgiving is that I need to take a book or a project or something, because my son left me utterly alone for the entirety of the visit. I was a little lonely.

Here are some highlights.


One of our many unplanned stops along the way to the Outer Banks. Turns out Sam only needs to take a bathroom break AFTER we have passed civilization.


Sam and cousin Alexis.


Sam and Alexis plotting something.


A game of strategy with uncles and cousins on Thanksgiving morning.

And some beach shots. It was blustery!
 






Great shot with Dad and Grandma!


You can actually see him trying to pull away to go find Daniel.


And this is a terrible shot due to the backlighting, but you can see the youngest of the cousins together here with their Grandma, who is holding the newest edition, sweet James Patrick. Here's hoping that in a couple of years Sam and JP will have just as much fun together at the holidays as Sam has with his older cousins now. And speaking of older cousins, that's Daniel on the far left, holding Sam on his lap. Seriously, that kid is great. He earned himself quite the Christmas present. And do you see Sam's expression? That's pretty much the way he was the whole trip. Like almost hysterical.

On the way home, we stopped at the Aquarium to help Sam get his mind off the fact that he was leaving his cousins behind.







 Phew. The End. (And Sam took some serious naps after we got home.)