Birch Bay

Our annual family reunion on Greg's side takes place in Birch Bay...Washington, that is. Not Florida. This sweatshirt (plus more) was hanging in a tourist shop, in Birch Bay Washington! Did someone order the wrong "Birch Bay" and the shop was like, oh well, let's sale it anyway?! I found it hilarious!

I think I have been avoiding this post, because I knew I would have to wade through probably 200+ pictures between all the family pictures, so I decided that instead I would just sort through the pictures I took with my own camera and pretend that I did this post the minute I got back and did not have pictures from everyone else yet. There, now I can write about our trip.

Birch Bay is such a perfect vacation spot for families. Max LOVES it. The tide usually goes way out, but it isn't always warm. This year was warm and sunny, sometimes even hot!, but the tide didn't recede very much and left the water kind of nasty in places. Max didn't seem to mind.

Greg with his siblings and dad: Cheryl, (Greg), Kent, Jon and Denise.Oh, those Portland Beans! (Jen, Jon, Livie, Madi, and Gabi). I hope this is their Christmas card photo this year!!!

Max has THE cutest cousins. And they play so great with him. Here is Ali showing off a sand dollar she found.

Max is not so fond of the sea life.

Flying kites in the Bay is so fun!

It may look Max is helping his cousin Paxton to make a sand castle and ditch. Yeah...not so much. He's more of a destroyer. Poor patient Pax.

One of the traditions of Birch Bay is throwing rocks with Grandpa when the tide is in.Another tradition is to do some tie-dye and then wear our creations when we walk to the C-Shop to buy candy, ice cream, and sno-cones. Gosh, we are a good looking bunch! So stylish!

My nieces hula-hoop like rock stars!

This was the first year that Max was able to ride the go-karts. He was beyond excited! We also rode the Thomas train, but my camera died then, and remember, I don't have the other pictures from the family (wink), so let it suffice to say that it is a slow, surreal ride, through woods littered with the craziest collection of lawn ornaments, decorations, and whatever you can imagine. Truth be told, it's a little creepy.

Birch Bay wouldn't be "The Bay" without lots of games. The late nights get a little crazy...The following video is Denise reading an answer that Greg came up with and Livie adding her one of a kind emphasis.

My cousin-in-law, Anna Marie, is the kind of aunt every kid wants. (Luckily, all of Max's aunts are like that, so having her as a cousin is a bonus!!!) She came up with a little project for Gwen, Max's too cute for words 2nd cousin) and Max: Fruit loop necklaces! Max was really not interested in the project. But he was excited about eating the supplies!

One of the nights, the entire extended family gets together for a weenie roast on the beach. It's really not my favorite part of the week, but I will admit that this year was better than last. It may help that Max is a year older, but it makes me crazy to try and get him to eat a hot dog from his lap, keep the bees away, and keep Max out of the water. Kind of stressful, but I guess the s'mores make it worth it.

It's such a good week, and we loved almost every minute of it. The worst part of the week: it has to come to an end. We look forward to next year!