Last week my family spent eight days in the sun of Sandbridge, VA. We’ve been going to Sandbridge for family vacation on and off since I was in middle school, so it clearly has become our favorite beach to vacation to. Now, when I say family vacation I don’t just me mean me, my parents, and my sister. In addition to us, our family vacations consist of my cousins, my aunt and uncle, and, most recently, my sister’s and cousin’s boyfriends. That brings the total to ten crazy, loud people in one house for an entire week. To most people this might cause some cringe worthy reactions but my family has done things this way ever since I can remember.
My cousins and I are all close in age; with Joelle (my sister) and Erica being 21 and myself and Ashley being 19. We’ve grown up together as best friends, which has resulted in many years of pretending to be The Cheetah Girls, Play, and any other girl group you can think of (which also tends to be relived at every family get together). It wouldn’t be a family vacation without them, especially considering that we’ve been together for every holiday, birthday, or honestly any special occasion that will give us an excuse to eat pasta, since we were born.
Since we’re basically all adults now (it feels insanely weird to say that), our dynamic has changed. Our family vacations have shifted from kids playing and adults talking, to ten adults all spending every minute together. For any family this transition can be weird, but my family has found ways to keep us all entertained. This included hilarious family game nights, dance parties (as led by my cousin Ashley), Nerf wars, and a lot of good eating.
This is my family’s way of bonding, and I think that this vacation, more than any other before, we’ve become even closer and have fallen back into that tight family mold that we’ve always had. Even the boyfriends joined in on the fun, which really allowed me to get a picture of what our family will be like in the future as me and my cousins grow up and each find the person that we want to create our own families with. The future looks bright, as always, for my family and I can’t wait for our next family vacation, no matter where it is (although personally I’m voting for DisneyWorld)!
From me for you,
Julie
