July 2022: Seas the Day

I wouldn’t typically recommend taking a vacation with 35 family members.

Especially if you’re all planning to stay in the same house for a week.

This could potentially be a recipe for disaster.

But with this particular group spanning across 7 different states and ranging in age from 1 to 77 …

And on this particular week in July 2022, a few years since Jordan’s extended family has been able to fully get together on Christmas…

And in this particular beachfront house called “Seas the Day” in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina that could comfortably fit and effectively entertain everyone…

It wasn’t a recipe for disaster.

It was a memory that I’ll never forget.

On our family vacation to the Outer Banks:

We learned family history and heard legendary stories from our Aunts and Uncles as we simultaneously created new legendary stories that the kiddos will tell their own nieces and nephews one day.

We laughed hysterically and stayed up too late with older cousins that we look up to and younger cousins that look up to us. I got to witness Charlie and Jack do the same with their own cousins.

It didn’t matter whether it was Shuffleboard, Cornhole, Floatie Pong, Pass the Pigs, Billiards, Rollet, Beach Volleyball at Tortugas, Keep it Up in the Air, or the Reindeer Ring Toss, the competition was top notch all week. Yet, I don’t remember the wins and losses nearly as much as I remember the banter and shenanigans in between each point.

We escaped a scorching heat wave by floating in the pool, jumping in the waves, watching the surfers at sunrise, and getting Ice Cream at sunset. Jack is still begging “Pool!” on his way to school every day since we’ve come home.

We played a round at Nags Head Golf Club where the priorities varied from golfer to golfer. Some focused on the next shot from the fairway. Some focused on capturing a shot of the beautiful views along the Roanoke Sound. Of course, some were most focused on taking that next shot from the cooler in the back of the cart.

We took turns exchanging culinary haymakers on our assigned dinner nights. Bryan and team may have prevailed when they made 40 personal brick oven pizzas- bringing a new definition to “Family Pizza night.”

We brought all of our Holiday traditions to the summer vacation at our Christmas in July party. We hung lights from a surfboard and inflated Christmas themed pool floats. Barefoot Santa even dropped by from the North Pole to drop some rhymes and spread some cheer.

We reminisced every morning as we cooked eggs, poured Jack more Cheerios, and wiped down Bradley’s height chair covered in yogurt. Then we went out in the summer sun to start a new day. And somehow each new day managed to become our favorite day of the vacation as the week kept getting better and better.

And whether it was during a lull after dinner, a lightning delay by the pool, or at the conclusion of the White Elephant gift exchange, we found a way to break into impromptu dance parties of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in which family of all ages hugged and sang at the top of their lungs.

But more than any particular event, activity, or moment from the trip, it was the abundance of love, joy, and cheesiness throughout the week that sticks with me. Through this experience, I was reminded of the following lessons:

Be grateful for those in your circle whom consistently possess the enthusiasm to rally the troops and make these moments happen (Thanks, Pop).

Be grateful for those who have the skill and initiative to organize the logistics and help these events go fairly and smoothly (Thanks, Britt & Gretchen).

Be grateful for those who you always find wiping countertops, unloading dishwashers, and stocking fridges and doing the extra things to clean up after these “memories.” (Thanks, Aunt Joanne & Peg).

Be grateful when you can go into any room in the house and find someone that you enjoy spending time with (Thanks, everyone).

Most of all, I was reminded to say yes when an opportunity like this comes along and to embrace the love and the joy of every moment. In other words, “Seas the Day!” And while I’m at it, I’ll “Seas the cheese” too.

While it’s unlikely that we will pull off something quite like this again in the foreseeable future- the feelings, memories, and lessons that we’ve gained from this experience will stay with all of us for a long, long time. I anticipate that the love, joy, and cheese from this trip will carry over into everything else we do as well.

And who knows, fam, perhaps this wasn’t a one and done. After all, there “Ain’t no river wide enough to keep me from getting to you.”

So until next time, thanks for the memories,

Kevin (#35)