year two! and we ALL got to go this year. in case you missed it, we re-started our family beach vacations last year and it’s probably my favorite thing of all things. because family and the beach and there is nothing better.

this vacation was so good, so restful, so sunkissed, so needed. and it’s what made me want to start blogging again, because i wanted to remember it. it feels like a pivotal moment, in ways i don’t even fully know yet, and i don’t want to forget the details. maybe i’ll write more later about why i stopped posting, but i think i lost something in me – or maybe i gave it up – and this vacation revived it.

so here we are.

we went to myrtle beach this year. we’re kind of beach-hopping (from pawleys island last year) to find the place that feels like ours the way hawk’s nest was ours growing up. i don’t think we’ve found it yet, but the place where we stayed this year was pretty ideal in how close we were to the ocean. (or, the “big water,” as isaac kept calling it.) we’re all-day-every-day beach people, so that’s our priority. how many steps does it take to get to the ocean?

i took the most photos from our balcony. my mom is really the one who loves being so close, but i learned that i’m pretty obsessed too. if i wasn’t sitting on the beach, i was sitting on the balcony – and trying to capture it in a photo.

the other thing we prioritize is being all together. we found a condo that fit us all, and while this kitchen is kind of small for the number of people in it, it’s not a deal breaker for us.

this photo of us at breakfast might be my favorite, even though there aren’t any waves crashing in the background and you can’t really even tell where we are. it just looks like home looks like to me.

all. day. every. day.

i kept wondering if i’d get tired of it. putting on sunscreen (3x daily), sitting/laying in the sun, being in the ocean (even though multiple people in our camp got stung by jellyfish), jumping waves, collecting shells, building sand castles for tiny “dinosaur” feet to crush – you know, the usual. it’s been a long time since i’ve spent that much time at the beach (especially it rained a lot last year), so i wasn’t actually sure if i was still the same kind of beach person i once was.

but yes. as each day ended, i was always ready to do it all over again the next day. a week felt way too short, if i’m being honest. i told T at one point that i’ve decided i’d like to just summer at the beach. but maybe that’s because it was just me and i got to call my own shots. no husband, no kids.

some people like the beach for all its activities. swimming in the ocean or playing beach games (like the group to our right who was out there all day every day playing corn hole) or walking to collect shells. those things are great. but i personally like the beach for the sun. for the waves crashing on the shore. for the sound and the smell and the warmth. my kind of beach activities are sitting in the sun, watching the ocean pull back and curl forward, and waking up for the sunrise.

i’m always the one to initiate a group outing (like this one) to watch the sun rise, even though where we stayed this time was so close that any one of us could’ve just gone out. we hopped out of bed, poured a cup of coffee (or tea), and headed out.

at one point, J commented that going to the beach with kids is kind of the best because they give you an excuse to do the “kid” activities, like building sand castles and digging a hole so deep the bottom pools with water.