Long Beach Island

The reason we began this trip was because we had a family reunion scheduled at the Jersey Shore!  All the way from California we brought 4 beach chairs, 2 beach towels, and a few sheets to use at the beach.  We were finally going to get to use all that stuff!  Marilyn was a true sport and practically emptied her whole linen closet so that everyone would have enough sheets and towels !  

Marilyn and Barry and Michael and I had the top floor of a duplex and our kids and their kids had the down stairs.  We had an extra bedroom upstairs so we invited Cousin Susan.  The other bed was alternately used by David, Tamar, Rachel, and Barbara!  We knew that we were going to have fun , but I hadn't  anticipated just how much fun it would be.  Mike B's family was also on LBI so we shared dinners, beach time , and lots of ice cream ! 

Dinner on the bay at sunset.

In a whole week we only had one rainy day and we used that well. What would a week on LBI be if we didn't visit the Wizard of Odds?  We had to go through flooded streets, but we made it!  There was also a stop at a bathing suit store and Rachel got a fabulous Miracle suit!  I'm not sure what the miracle was, but she looked great in the suit. We even drove up to the end of the island to visit the lighthouse. Alas, the bait store at the lighthouse no longer has the sea horse exhibit.  Probably much better for the seahorses.

Each day we went to the beach in the morning and again in the late afternoon. After some trial and error we realized that low tide offered the best swimming and we began to plan our visits accordingly.  We all loved the water, except maybe Ari.  He loved being at the beach with his people and playing in the sand.  He preferred the ocean to remain at a safe distance.  Zachary became a boogie board champ!  Miriam got great joy out of all that splashy water.  She even dragged the boogie- board down toward the water to try the waves!  (She is now signed up for swimming lessons in Austin!)

We managed to fit in a round of miniature golf and lots of eating!  Marilyn saved the day when she found Michael's hearing aids in the dryer as the last load was coming out!

Moms and babies!

At the end of the week, we were all headed out.  Marilyn, Susan, Barbara, and I had lots of memories revisited.  

For all of us, many memories were made.  Zachary put in a request that we should always have the extended family included in our vacations! Z and Uncle Barry had really spent some special time together.

Here is almost the whole family.  The Raviv/Yaros branch left the day before.