4th of July in North Carolina

The ENTIRE Hassell clan headed down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week long family vacation.  That means 24 people.  It was wonderful to see everybody and spend so much time together.  We stayed at an awesome house on the beach and worked on our tans.  Tim and I haven't had a tan in over 5 years.  That's a long time.  People just look better tan. 

Anyways, good family, good food, good conversations, good times.  We enjoyed the ocean, fireworks, local eateries, kite flying, the pool, chocolate raisins, reading books.  It was a true vacation.  We have so many pictures, way to many to post.  I just picked a few that include my own mini-Hassell family.

Beach time

 It was very hot ant humid.  I was constantly sweating.

 Sam and Max were good sand buddies.  Eating the sand and biting the toys. 

 Kites are a Hassell family tradition so everyone was excited to pull out so many of the kites.  Tim and I have stopped flying our kite together due to the strain it puts on our communication so he was happy to have kite buddies.

 Lots of sand castle building going on.

 Tim taught me how to boogie board and it was pretty fun.  I was no good but it was still really fun.  I felt young and carefree again, or at least adventurous and salty.

 Max Man enjoying the beach.  He was not well-behaved on this trip but he made up for it by being so adorable. 

This is me with 5 of the nieces.  They are adorable and I miss them all already.

Family Photos

The Hassell's decided to do two sets of family photos.  One set was your typical beach vacay family photos.  The other set was the saloon, western style photos.   No, I am not joking.

 Above: the ladies of the family

Below: Max loved Tim's cowboy hat

 Hassell Family

Eating Out

We spent some time eating out at local places which is always a good time.

 This place had great soft shell crab sandwiches. 

 This place had great ice cream.  Max was lovin it.

4th of July was hot but fun.  It is one of my favorite holidays.  I love fireworks, I love summer, I love BBQs, I love America.  We went to the sand dunes to watch the fireworks and our niece Hailey made us laugh by telling us she was bored listening to us talk about America's birthday.

Thanks for the great memories Hassell family :)