East Coast Trip wrap-up

It's just really too bad, you know? I was doing so well blogging on the trip. And you'd think that once we got to the beach house and had time to sit and relax I'd at least be able to catch up then. Internet was slow and spotty, Scott was trying to build his website so that got priority use of the laptop, and mostly I was never interested in skipping out on the games, puzzles, or conversation happening at all hours of the night to write a blog. So here we are, home for 2 weeks and I still haven't finished blogging about the trip.

Well luckily, it's my week to post our sisters update, which will force me to move on, but not before the travelog is complete. So here you have it.







On Thursday May 25 my brother Zack graduated "WITH DISTINCTION" from Harvard Business School. I think I've mentioned before how proud I am of him, but it was really something else to be sitting there and watching him in his cap and gown cross the stage. Congratulations Zack! And Ana and Jack too. And best wishes on your future adventures, whatever they may be.

Huck didn't totally love the ceremony (nor did the people behind us totally love Huck's discontentment), so Scott took him out for a lot of it.





All my siblings were there to celebrate the occasion. Here is our obligatory jumping pick. So ridiculous.

Thursday evening we flew from Boston to Raleigh, NC where we rented a car and drove to Chapel Hill to see where my sister Annee and her family lives. We arrived to a beautiful and immaculate house that did feel just a little bit out in the middle of nowhere.







The kids immediately remembered their fun Earnest cousins and had a great time having sleepovers every night and playing together every day.










We went to a farmer's market in a nearby artsy community. It was hot and muggy and the kids just couldn't resist the giant slip 'n slide even though we didn't bring proper swimming attire. It was totally gross and apparently a really good time.








Annee and Darin were generous and gracious hosts. The great thing about sisters is that we can live across the country from each other and have different last names, but when I visit her in her home it feels quite a bit like my home too.
Annee & Darin are living a magical lifestyle right now - back to a student schedule but with the maturity and means of grown adults. They showed us one of their tricks one night when we put the little kids to bed early and left the big boys home to "babysit" and went out to a nice adult-only dinner. It went splendidly, and was a real treat and I hope to soon implement that trick back home.

On Sunday we packed up and headed onward on our journey and caravanned with the Earnests to Duck Beach to meet up with the rest of the JAZBAND.

We were awestruck when we pulled up to this beach-front rental house - complete with 9 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a theater room, an elevator, a hot tub and pool, and a long strip of pristine private beach. It was amazing and perfect and unfortunately will probably make it difficult to accept the comparably-priced options on the west coast anymore.







My report of our daily play-by-play will look very much like this, so I'll leave it to Ie Li to tell it best. But overall highlights would definitely include the amazing soft sand and finding actual seashells and sand crabs; warm water with fun waves - Scott and I really love body surfing and all the kids got the chance to discover the ocean on this trip too; playing with cousins inside the house, out on the beach, and in the pool;


There was daily sandcastle building and paddle ball and sunning and reading and a beautiful sunset to watch every night (albeit on the wrong side of the beach, but that's ok).








I'm not sure Huck understood that he looked like he was sitting in a car (that fun Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ken built for him), but June and Stephen sure got into the spirit as they raced down the track.























Now, don't get me wrong. I love our life here in Provo. We've got it good and I know it. But beach life is better. That's just the simple truth of the matter.

Here are all the cousins (minus Mi Na and the one currently gestating inside of Ana) on our outing to Kitty Hawk - home of the Wright Brother's infamous first flight. These kids all did amazingly well getting along and making fun memories together.



Of course hanging out with my siblings was the highlight for me too. Most nights ultimately ended up around this table eating crabs, playing cards, working on puzzles or having some nerdy discussion over ice cream. We even had a book club one night which was awesome - first book I've read in probably 10 years - literally (lest you think it's because I don't like reading, it's actually quite the contrary - I love reading so much I neglect all my other responsibilities, so decided once I had kids I had to give it up for this phase of my life - moderation is not my forte). Sometimes I wonder whether having a big family is ever really "worth it" given the lopsided ratio between getting-along to annoying-your-little-sister-on-purpose, on top of how much hard work it is and how expensive it can be. But when we are all together as adults and get along well and share common experiences and values and interest and love and respect for one another, it becomes quite clear how "worth it" it was all along.

Thanks for making it all possible, Mom & Dad.

On the flight home...