Going to the beach

Probably my most favorite time of the summer and the year, besides football season, is the week or two I get to spend at the beach with my family. Not only is it just my Dad, Mom, and sisters but my grandparents, aunts , uncles, and cousins.

I have 3 sisters, so I am the only boy and I get stuck not being able to do guy things a lot so when I go to the beach I meet up with my cousins (three boys) and have a great time. The cousin closest to me is Caleb, he is the same age as me and if you didn't know us you would think we were brothers, not because of our appearance but because of how we act just a like. We both love sports to death and we are both very athletic and active.

Most of our trips to the beach are very similar. The past 3 years we have stayed in a large beach house in Fort Morgan, Alabama but before that we always stayed in condos in Gulf Shores, Alabama. My family likes the beach house because the beach is never crowded and we are pretty much by ourselves, but Caleb and I of course would much rather be in a place where there are a lot of people and there for more girls, but besides the lack of girls on the beach everything is perfect.

The typical beach trip with my family starts with everyone meeting down on the coast (we don't all live around here so we just meet down there) and checking out the nice house that we get to stay in for the next week or two. The week we go is always during the TSSAA dead week for high school sports because we all play sports and that's the only time we get off. The days at the beach always start late for me because I sleep till Caleb gets tired of being up by himself and finally decides to wake me up. We always start our day by going down to the beach and riding the waves for a couple of hours or if the jellyfish are bad till we get fed up with getting stung. After we are all tired of the ocean beating us into the sand we go up and eat lunch, normally sandwiches, and rest a little bit. After eating lunch Caleb and I normally decided to take a walk on the beach to see if we can meet any girls, but where we are at we both know our odds are not very good. Since we will probably not see a single girl our age we take a football or frisbee and have fun throwing it up and down the beach as we keep an eye out for the girls that is never there. Once we have walked for five mile we both decided there are no girls our age anywhere in the state of Alabama we decide to walk back.

It is now late afternoon and we are all somewhat burnt from being out in the sun all day. Around this time me and Caleb grab our skim boards, which we have mastered with years and years of experience, and find a perfect spot to skim until the sun goes down. Even though I said we master it will still find our selves bleeding at the knees and elbows and washing sand out of our pants from busting and rolling across the beach. Once day light is gone we decide to go up and eat dinner. Now dinner on our family vacations is something you do not want to miss. I am talking steak, boiled shrimp, barbecued shrimp, tilapia, huge baked potatoes, and amazing sides that are better than any restaurant I have ever been to. And then there is sweet tea and you cant beat good sweet tea. Once our belly's are full me and Caleb normally take my younger cousin out to hunt for grabs. Because there are not that many people around where we stay at the crabs are everywhere and that makes a lot of fun while hunting them. Just a little side note we even got to see a giant sea turtle coming up on the beach to lay its eggs this past year. After we are done with our hunt me and Caleb normally go and relax in the hot tub before hitting the sack and starting the cycle all over again.

The beach trip wouldn't be half as fun as it is without my cousin and family there and they are why I have such a great time every year we go.