Family Time at Mexico Beach

So where was I?  Oh, yep...Mexico Beach.  We headed to the panhandle for Memorial Day and the Third Biannual McClellan Clan Reunion.

Jim (my uncle) did a fantastic summation of our family tradition of going to Mexico Beach, here's the link.  I am young enough that I only remember the bullet points past "bathing rarely", but definitely remember the roaches, the ashtrays, and the time Mama finally let us cross highway 98 with Amy (ah, freedom!).  Not mentioned--the fabulous fishing net full of sea finds, a certain papasan chair, Reader's Digest Condensed Books, getting to sleep on the front porch, and getting shocked while opening both refrigerators at once.

Jim's post covers a few different beach houses.  Our family sold the one I grew up going to several years ago, while I was in high school, so we now rent a (much, much nicer) house across the street from it.  When I was growing up, we rarely spent the night at the beach house (since we lived only an hour's drive away) but I remember always begging Mama and Daddy to let us spend the night.  As a kid, I couldn't understand Mama's reluctance to stay overnight, but as an adult, I think I get it...probably had something to do with 25 people crammed into 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, or maybe the lack of air conditioning, or maybe the cockroaches...hmmm.

So the family has now grown to 33 people...here are most of them:

Missy made a family tree for Will, and it might be useful if you need to figure out who was there.  (You'll have to figure out the spouses on your own--I think she ran out of space.)

I didn't pull out the camera very often on this trip, but I have a few random photos to share.

Finn and Will watching cartoons while Finn recovers from an injury:

Breakfast on the deck:

Ready to hit the sand!

Will and Papa:

The youngest generation: Lucy, Stevie, Beckett, Finn, Will, and Anna.  This is a picture that had to be made, but none of the kids were particularly happy to pose:

Anna in a stink:

Will trying to force Anna to smile:

Sleeping?  Definitely pretending:

Beckett investigates:

Cutie pie:

Pretty Stevie and a hushpuppy:

Anna giving Beckett a hug:

Stevie hugging (or choking? it's a thin line) Beckett:

Kisses all around:

We celebrated Mama's birthday a little early.  She has a lot of titles...we couldn't decide which one to use so used them all!

Family photo:

Will had been dying to catch a ghost crab all week.  He and Papa finally managed it one night:

Escaping to freedom:

We mostly just spent our time relaxing on the beach, but we did make an attempt to go kayaking.  Planning that trip pushed my type-A self over the edge.  I'm going to leave off the embarrassing (to me) details, but will just say next time we will go with no reservations and just show up ready to paddle.

John and I also had a great dinner out at Sunset Coastal Grill in Port St. Joe.  I have to recommend any restaurant that offers sweet potato casserole as a side dish. :-)

Papa took us all on a boat ride:

Anna wasn't very happy about her life jacket in the picture above.  We just kept unsnapping clips until she started smiling:

We were sad to leave, but this rainbow on the morning of our departure cheered us up:

We had a great time and can't wait until 2014!