Organized Chaos

After I finished up my contract in Tennessee, I hopped in my sardine packed jeep and made a little road trip to Virginia Beach to meet the rest of my family for a little vaycay.  My parents somehow figured out a way to get all of us in one place for an entire week.  It was quite the project, and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm happy that I was in no way part of the planning committee.  They just had to say we were going to the beach for vacation and check in day is Saturday - that was all I needed. 

As I was cruising down the highway (interstate as they say in the South) and rocking out to my music - don't worry, no I didn't stop for any numbers - I couldn't help but think about what I was driving into.  For those of you who don't know, I'm the youngest of four girls.  I sort of feel like that's an average size family, and in a lot of ways maybe we do fall into the "average family category."  However, I think we're anything but ordinary.  So Andrea is my oldest sister (one of the twins) - she's married to Nick and they have Sam (3) and another on the way.  Kristin is the other twin - she's married to Andy, and they have Alex (4 1/2) and Grayson (1 1/2).  And Caitlin is married to Alan and they have Eloise (16mths).  Then there is me - married TBD with no known children at this time.  My parents are pretty cool - I've been their housemate for the last 26 years (not including my little travel days).  They've been married for 41 years this September which seems like crazy talk these days.  It's fun watching them now that all of us are grown and they can carry on with their lives together.  It's actually really refreshing to see two people devoted to one another.  My future husband has a lot to live up to, poor guy.

So now that we know all the participants of this Palomba vacation, let's do a little math.  If you add em all up you get 13 people - do you know what that means?? There are 13 mouths...loud mouths...I can be quite the talker, especially if I'm familiar with you.  Well, if you multiply that by 10 you get one of my sisters.  There's still two more - and don't forget their husbands and children.  So needless to say this beach house of ours, which was pretty good size, seemed to always be hopping.  It was quite the transition - going from my own little apartment with just my thoughts, to an entire house full of laughing and crying, yelling and joking, fighting and hugging. 

The neat thing about this week long experience was that I wouldn't trade it for the world.  My family is pretty awesome.  I may not be able to get a word in edgewise, but I know the second I need their help I have an automatic dozen on my side.  This was the perfect vacation to have before I head off to Congoland.  Of course, the beach was fantastic - we had amazing weather and I am proud to say that I did fairly well in the sunscreen application department  For some reason it's actually fun getting pummeled by waves while trying to boogie board, and quite humorous watching the kids thoroughly enjoy digging a hole in the sand.  I love watching the waves roll in and feeling the salty air on my skin.  But there's nothing better than looking up from your plate at the table and seeing your entire family in one room enjoying random conversations.  Or hearing the pitter-patter of little feet and looking up to see freshly bathed kids in their pj's.  Throughout the week I feel like I had little moments with all of them - it was just nice.  I am truly lucky.

 

Although I don't think I'll ever get used to referring to my parents as Grammy and Grampy, I don't think I'll ever have a problem being around my family.

 

More pictures to follow  :)