Bi-Annual McParland Reunion and Beach Vacation

Growing up in a close-knit Irish family, I take for granted that my 3 sisters and I tend to get into all the messy details of each other's lives. I know when my sister has a cold, or when her kid did something adorably embarrassing, or when she's annoyed at her neighbor or had a hard day at work. Even with the distance, regular phone calls, blogs, facebook and the good ol' fashioned family grapevine have maintained our closeness. That being said, there is nothing like being together, all at once and in the same place. We try to make this happen every two years.

This year we almost didn't succeed. It'd been a tough 2 years financially for all of the households, I'm still taking classes full time and traveling, my brother-in-law was expected back from Afganistan during the same time (alone time for the still newly-wed Jess and Shane would have trumped family beach time!), there are three toddlers now and a baby that would have to travel, work schedules were tight and conflicted, etc. etc. etc.

It was Mom's sheer will that pulled us all out of our respective cocoons and forced us to prioritize this past week. I'm so glad she did!

It was amazing to get to know my now two-year-old niece, "Ella Bean" and nephew, Morgan. They are becoming such interesting people! Ella has an amazing exuberance about her, a tough, don' mess with me attitude, loves to sing (and can do so quite well) and draw and explore. Morgan remains the fearless daredevil in the family, but is also the sweetest kid- he has no trouble sharing and is super easy going, and has a wicked sense of humor. McKenzie is now a precocious (there is simply no better word!) 4-year-old who reads comfortably, is learning to dance, has opinions about everything, loves to learn, and is anxious to please. Lastly, but certainly not least, my nephew Nate, the eldest at 7, simply did not get enough attention in a house with so many little children, but didn't complain or act up or show jealousy... although I think he must have felt some. Nate is also an amazingly easy-going kid, funny, artistic, confident, smart, kind.... All of these kids are growing up beautifully and I'm blessed to get as much time with them as I can.

As for my sisters.... wow! We couldn't be more alike and more different. We'd make a great sitcom. Jess is taking on the world as an industrial engineer while emotionally supporting her husband Shane, who has been deployed in Afghanistan. They barely had any time together before he left, but he is on his way home as I type, and I am so, so very grateful for his safe return. I remain grateful to all the service men and women who are still deployed, and their families who are not yet as lucky as we are. Somehow Jess still finds time for lots of exploration and hikes. Kate is an entrepreneurial labor and childbirth educator who is somehow also a full-time mom, master gardener and tamer of the floods. http://conceptionforward.com/ Meg also owns her own marketing firm http://impactmarketingllc.com/ and does in 30 hours what other's cant do in 60. So it's really no wonder that I am also trying to have it all- family, school, work, start-up business....

Okay- that's us- plus assorted husbands and two amazing parents who look after us all. Cram us into a single house for a week (and add two cousins, Nikki and Hannah) and what do you get? Well, we sure got a lot of work done, considering it was vacation, but we also got plenty of play time and giggles with the kids. 14 loads of laundry. $600 in food. A few of temper tantrums (not always from the kids). A house of built in babysitters so the parents could steel a few moments for a date- even if it was just a 45 minute walk. Oh yes, and a vicious 12-hour stomach bug and fever, which got pretty much everyone at some point.

There are no words to describe how lucky I am to have the family that I do. So, here is a collection of photos which will say it for me.