July 31, 2021 - August 7, 2021
Jessica and Joe (my daughter and son-in-law) picked me up at the McDonald's in Stevensville, MD early Saturday morning for our yearly trek to Bethany Beach where we meet up with out extended family. As is our custom, we stopped in Rehoboth Beach to have lunch at Gus and Gus's on the boardwalk. Parking was a nightmare but we finally found a space in the 1 hour only parking area. The cheese steaks and fries were as delicious as we remembered. After lunch we drove on to Bethany Beach. Since we were the first of the family to arrive we picked up the house keys and proceeded to our rental house on Central Blvd. We always have the same rooms so we unpacked and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive from various places in the USA. It is always such a joyful reunion with hugs and kisses for everyone. My nieces and their children filled the house with laughter and shrieks of joy. Everyone was waiting anxiously for the newest member of the family to arrive from Illinois, my granddaughter, Claire.
I always have the responsibility for providing dinner on the first night and I ordered nine pizzas from our favorite spot - Grottos. Jessica helped me make a salad to go along with the pizza.
My niece, Allison, had purchased t-shirts for all of the adult women and started to distribute them. Becky and I got the "The beautiful one" shirts. As the matriarchs of this clan I think that was appropriate.
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| My sister Becky and I wearing our new t-shirts. |
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A photo op for all of the ladies wearing their new t-shirts
(Ronan made a guest appearance, too) |
The weather for the week was great. It did rain one day, but that allowed the parents to take the children to Funland in Rehoboth mid afternoon. No one was exhausted from being on the beach all day and everyone got home at a reasonable hour. Plus it stopped raining by the time they all got to Rehoboth and all the rides were up and running!
I’m going to finish this post with a photo gallery of some of the high points of the week. It was terrific!
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| Cousin fun - Mauve, Ofelia, and Bella |
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| I had lunch one day at Baja's with Bella and my granddaughter, Lili. |
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| Claire's first day at the beach. |
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| Claire certainly enjoyed the week. |
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Claire was often the center of attention.
Here she is being held by her cousin Alfredo
while her cousin Bella looks on.
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Ronan and Bella were Claire's best babysitters.
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| Jessica and Joe enjoying the cool evening on the front porch. |
On Tuesday my other sisters, Laurie and Nancy, arrived to help Al and Becky celebrate their vow renewal after 44 years of marriage.
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| Laurie and her daughter Sarah on the front porch before the ceremony |
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| Sarah and her Uncle Aldo sharing a laugh. |
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Rachel, Juan, Lili, and Baby Claire
are all dressed up for the ceremony on the beach. |
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Jennifer, Laurie, Bella and Ofelia look
lovely in their nice dresses. |
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Mother (Becky) and Daughter (Allison) are
ready to go down to the beach for the ceremony. |
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Aldo and Nancy drove down from
eastern PA to be at the ceremony. |
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| Jessica, Joe, Bella and Ofelia are ready for the ceremony. |
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| And, of course, the "bride" was beautiful. |
It was a wonderful week together as a family. And the crowning event was Juan's proposal of marriage to Rachel. She accepted, of course! Can't wait for next year!!!!
Thank you for reading my blog.
