Last week, my family gathered for a 31 year old tradition – the annual Hawkins Beach Trip! It started with Nanny & Papa Hawkins back in 1983 who rented a beach house for their two kids & their families to stay in for a week. At the time, there were 10 Hawkins who made the first trek (that was before me & Amy came along). This year we had 24 pairs of feet on the ground with 1 more pair making his debut in about 5 weeks. 
Papa & Nanny Hawkins can no longer make the long trip but the new Grandparents (my parents, aunt & uncle) have continued the tradition. We no longer stay in one house but have grown to 3 houses on Caswell Beach in Oak Island, NC. There is an unwritten rule that this tradition will continue and we joke that in a few more years, we may have every house on the beach rented!
One of my favorite things about this trip is that fellowship & relationships has always been the focus for the week. There is not much to do on the island so all there is to do is hang out with each other. We set up 4 tents on the beach for the week and anyone who isn’t currently wrangling the younger kids hangs out in the shade. But there is always some sort of entertainment happening with 9 kids running around. But sometimes, even the kids take a rest. 
One of my other favorite traditions at the beach is taking the ferry. This year, it turned into an all day event since one of the ferries was broken but Avery still got to feed the seagulls from the back of the boat! 
My personal tradition is to get up every morning and watch the sunrise. So every morning, I got up at 5:30 to wait for the sun to peek its head out. By the end of the week, Amy & mom were joining me. Every morning was beautiful! 
Of course after missing the last two years, I especially loved hanging out with my nieces all week! 
And catching up with my sisters!
It also turned out that MGM was filming the next Nicolas Sparks book The Longest Ride a couple houses down from us. So of course I took more than one walk along the beach! 
I also made a point to work on my chaco tan lines any chance I got! 
For it not being July yet, I’d say I’m doing pretty well! 
This year’s beach trip was extra special for me because I had missed the past 2 years and most of my extended family I hadn’t really seen since returning last fall. That’s the great thing about beach week – holidays get busy & schedules don’t always work out so you don’t always get to see everyone. But unless you are living overseas, everyone always makes it to beach week!
Thank you for letting me share your family gathering I love reading your posts.