Ahhhh, the beach! It’s one place where I can truly veg out and relax. I park myself in the shade with a good book and the hours pass without even noticing. Granted, when you add four grandchildren to the mix, there’s less uninterrupted quiet time, but that’s okay, too. They love the beach as much as I do, and it’s been so much fun sharing it with them.
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| 9″ x 12″ ink & watercolor in an Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook |
Our beach vacations from year to year have a lot in common, and I decided to do a sketch this year showing all the family fun we have each year when we’re together at the beach.
It’s usually someone’s birthday during the week – this year it was mine and Fred’s, so we celebrated with a chocolate birthday cake with caramel frosting – yummmmmm! And we always make steamed shrimp with Old Bay seasoning for dinner one night, so I included some of those delicious little delicacies in my sketch. And we try to fit in as many visits as we can to The Fuzzy Peach for frozen yogurt sundaes.
Fred and I bought each other kayaks for our birthdays this year, and we had lots of fun paddling on the intracoastal waterway at Oak Island. Our grandkids are still small enough that they can fit in front of us in the kayak, and they loved paddling into the secret passageways among the reeds and grasses around Sheep Island. In the evening, there were so many fish and shrimp jumping out of the water that a few of them actually landed in the boat! No wonder there were so many herons wading the shallow waters.
I was feeling particularly happy and silly one day and had the brilliant idea that all the girls should wear their hair in pigtails that morning. The little girls got such a kick out of mommy and grandma having hairstyles that matched theirs.
Out on the beach, there was the usual boogie boarding in the waves, and burying kids in the sand…
And every year, the guys muster enough energy at least once during the week to build a really impressive sand castle. This year, the kids were big enough to give them lots of help, and they constructed a massive one, complete with a moat…
The games of choice during the week were card games like War, Rummy, Old Maid, and Go Fish, plus we had a few heated rounds of Rummikub.
Afternoons were spent on the shady deck, reading a book, sorting beach treasures, or painting.
And some of my favorite times were when we sat outside on the deck in the evenings, watching the sun go down and just talking with the kids, asking them questions, watching them dancing around in their pajamas, telling stories, being silly, and just being together.
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| 9″ x 12″ ink & watercolor in an Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook. Drawn with a purple 005 Pigma Micron pen. |
I hope I’ll be doing this every summer for years to come.
9 Comments
What a treasure your sketches are! So many memories are packed into that one page! Beautiful!
Thanks. Sketching is such a wonderful way to hold onto those memories.
Happy Belated Birthday! What a fun page! I love the pigtails and sunglasses. Beautiful title page too. I can just feel that sea breeze blowing through the dune grasses.
Thanks, Susan! I don't know what possessed me to use a purple Pigma pen on that title page – I do crazy things when I'm feeling happy. 🙂
It's perfect for that page. It blends into the background, so all I notice are the yummy colors!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories; they are beautiful! 🎨
You're welcome, Ann. I appreciate your kind comments.
Your illustrations tell a wonderful happy story of fun and love. Making me smile. Big.
Love the sketches that go with your memories of this special family vacation. What a nice way to document the things you all did. Great page!