The Sometimes Supermom: The Sea, once it casts its spell...

Pawley's Island 2010

(Ryan 8, Cannon 4, and Parker 8 months)

There is a quote by Jacques Cousteau that says, “The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” These words ring true for our family. We truly love the beach. We can sit and watch the waves for hours on end. For the past six summers, we have gone to the beach. We've been to Dauphin Island, Alabama, Pawley's Island, South Carolina (four years), and Destin, Florida. It is the thing we most look forward to all year! We are total beach bums, getting on the beach at around 1 p.m. staying until about 7 p.m. and maybe going back out around 10 p.m. for a crab hunt or two!

Every year, we have a tradition of taking the family beach picture. I am so glad we do this, because it has grown into such a fun tradition. We end up using the picture at Christmas as our holiday card saying something like "Warm Wishes this Holiday Season". It is really cool to see how the family has grown every year. I have been pregnant in two! In addition, we take the big family picture (my husband, his mom and stepdad, and brothers and wive and fiance). We always have a lot of fun coordinating the color of clothing for the picture.

Our times together have been so special and memorable from watching Ryan's first glimpse of the ocean in Alabama, Paul's mishap with chasing the dog, Baby Cannon crawling in the sand, Kim's sand dollar find, the boys riding girly waves and MONSTER waves, Jason's dolphin butt, Timothy in the River Rat, Kim's 50th birthday celebration, to Bocce ball matches in the late evening. These times have made us laugh, cry, but most of all allowed us to grow closer as a family. We are so appreciative of Paul and Kim (Jaron's stepdad and mom) for making it possible for us to spend this treasured time together.

Here are the past five summers of family beach pictures.