Birch Bay 2009

It was time to go to Birch Bay for the 26th time in my life, and almost all the family was there: Dad, Kathy, Jon, Jen, Madi, Livi, Gabi, Denise, Ali, Pax, Greg, Kari, Max and ME!

Conor couldn't be there because he had to work, so we all made sure to fart a little extra, take a couple naps on the couch, and lose at Mormon Bridge to make it feel like he was actually there.

Although the tides were awful, we still managed to enjoy the beach as much as we could - making sand castles, wading around in the gross and disgusting water, smelling the "fresh" air, flying kites, playing games on the beach - whatever we could fit in.

When not at the beach, we walked down to the C-Shop where I got my first bee sting ever. It was not fun at all, I don't recommend it.

We also spent lots of time on our lawn learning that all adults (except for Jen) cannot hula hoop. Madi is just plain 'ol good at the Hoop, but I loved that the other girls had their own unique style - Olivia hula hoops like a rockstar, Ali likes to do the funky chicken, and Gabi has instituted a sort of "crab walk." The first video below is of a few family members trying it out. The second video is of Madi impersonating her dad.

We also went Go-Karting. Somehow, the twins won both of their races - Pax won with Grandpa, and although Jon was somehow thwarted by his evil little sister, Ali won with Jen. Olivia and I were in it to make the pictures look good.

There is a Thomas the Tank Engine train that runs at this Go-Karting place, but I refuse to ever go on it again because I have this sinking feeling that I will either die there someday, or that it is the future setting of a horror film. It was hard to resist Max's cute face, but Denise, Rick and I stayed back while everyone else went. Honestly, these two pictures do not do the creepiness any justice...


All in all it was a great trip! We were able to play lots of board games at night, which is always fun. We escaped the heatwave that hit the rest of the state by being near the ocean breeze. We were able to watch the sunset almost every night, sno-scone night was a blast, we had two birch bay firsts - the power went out the first night we were there after we drove through a crazy lightning storm, and we made our neighbors so angry that they called management to come yell at us. The only thing missing was the tall guy in white shorts drinking out of his beer stein. Maybe next year.