Annual Rodgers Family Beach Vacation 2016

With the exception of my sister Beth Ann's husband Rich (who could not leave his practice) and her son Jared (who is in Alaska for the summer), everyone in the four-generation Rodgers family, ranging in age from 89 to two months, was at the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, this year.  That made 29 of us, and we were joined by my good friend Lori Shoemaker, who lives in Washington, D.C., her two children, Michael and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's friend Zofia.  So, there were 33!

Every morning, a contingent got up early to put out our two dozen beach chairs, the beach shade tent and the large bag of beach toys close to the lifeguard stand in front of our condominium building and at the high tide line in order to secure our large and primo position on the beach.  (We were not the only ones doing this.  By 7:30 a.m. each morning, a significant portion of the high tide line has been reserved by umbrellas casting shade on empty chairs.)  We bring down the 4 tables for playing cards, the umbrellas, the numerous boogie boards, towels, coolers and other paraphernalia later.

The beach by mid-morning

After four weeks in the U.K., we finally experienced true summer!  Every day, the temperature was in the mid-80's and there was a breeze.  There were only two thunderstorms during the week.  One was in the evening but was very brief, and the other occurred in the middle of the night, so no adverse weather interfered with our fun in the sun.  Also, there was no need to wear multiple layers.  The most we needed to do was put a beach cover-up or a t-shirt over our swimsuits if we were getting too much sun.

My four-month old grandniece Leena and my two-month-old grandnephew Roman (They're cousins.) chilling on the beach under their pop-up sunshade

My older sister Kerri Lyn and her husband Charlie provided breakfast and make-your-own lunch in their condo each day, and the rest of us signed up for different evenings to prepare dinner for the multitude.  There was more than enough food for everyone!  We only went out to eat one night, at a restaurant on the end of the peninsula at tables overlooking the inlet to the bay.  After that, we spent some time on the boardwalk where the little kids enjoyed some amusements rides.  The boardwalk is much too crowded, bright and noisy for my taste, so my family and Dad only stayed long enough to watch the kids for a while.

Matthew, Rachael, Katya, Matt (Kirsten boyfriend) Kirsten, Alex, Olivia, Leena (The babies get passed around a lot.), Randy, April and Kes

Honor, Haiti, Baker, Mikey (Cindy's husband), Beth Ann, Cooper, Cindy (my oldest niece) and Michael

Dad, Rick, Roman (his son), Julia, Leena (her niece), Karen, Terry (my brother), Peter, Kerri Lyn and Charlie 

The three Taylor kids--Cooper, Leena and Baker; Kes; and the three Petry kids--Roman, Haiti and Honor

Baker and Honor

Baker and Honor and Cooper, Haiti and Kes

Roman, who looks like his Papa, Charlie

The other beach traditions continued.  We played cards on the beach every day.  (The women won the team gin rummy championship!)  The little kids built castles and dug pools in the sand.  Everyone spent time in the ocean with the exception of a few people who, for reasons incomprehensible to the rest of us, do not like to go in the water, and the kids also enjoyed the swimming pool.

The usual crowd in the water

Leena with her great granddad

Two dozen of us, including my dad (who came in second), played putt-putt golf one night.

Most of our crowd ready to play putt-putt golf

Zofia, Michael, Katya and Elizabeth

Dad, my sister Beth Ann with my niece Haiti, and my niece Olivia 

My niece Rachael, my brother Randy, his daughter Kes and his wife April

Two of my grandnephews, Baker and Cooper, with their dad Mikey and Olivia's fiance Alex

Matthew, my nephew Michael, Peter and my friend Lori

My niece-in-law Julia, her second daughter Honor, me, my nephew Rick (married to Julia) and their son Roman

My dad putting with Rachael, April, my sister Kerri Lyn and Beth Ann in the background

Honor learning to putt with her dad Rick (my oldest nephew).  It was her first year.

As usual, steamed crabs were featured on the menu Sunday night, with people taking turns at the table on the balcony whacking them with mallets and digging out the meat.  (It's a mess!) Other food traditions include a donut run one morning to the Fractured Prune, which makes gourmet donuts, and a much-anticipated stop at Rita's for frozen custard.  Even more highly anticipated is my sister-in-law April's creme brulee.  There are always a few extras, and the bidding for them is fierce.

We spent one evening on the beach with sparklers and light sticks.  And, although there was a minor mutiny, at least some of the guys went to a minor league baseball game a half-hour drive away in Salisbury one evening.  The women had no such problems with cohesion, and the majority went shopping in Bethany Beach.  Added this year to the activities among the teen to 40-something crowd was Pokemon Go.  I don't get it, but it seemed to be a bonding experience!

Olivia, Honor and Beth Ann on the beach at night 

Katya with a sparkler but inseparable from her music

On the last day of vacation, we managed to take the family photos without too much fussing.  It's not easy getting 29 people to look at the camera and smile at the same time!  Of course, every year we depend on April to perform magic with photoshop to produce an image in which everyone looks good!

Dad made it into the water before the left the beach for the last time this year.

Randy, Terry, Dad and Michael

To help you figure it all out, here are photos of the family divided into logical groups by age of my siblings and me.

My older sister Kerri Lyn and her husband Charlie

Their son Rick, his wife Julia, their two girls Haiti and Honor and their baby boy Roman

Kerri Lyn and Charlie's daughter Cindy and her husband Mikey and their chidren Cooper, Leena and Baker

The entire Petry clan

Katya, me, Peter and Matthew

My younger brother Terry, his wife Karen and their children Rachael and Michael

My younger sister Beth Ann with her two daughters, Kirsten and Olivia, and their boyfriends, Matt and Alex 

My youngest brother Randy with his wife April and their daughter Kes 

My dad with all his grandchildren except Jared 

My dad with his five children

Most amazingly and unusually, with that many people gathered together, no one was ill and contagious diseases did not spread (although my dad has developed a cold a couple of days after returning).  We could not have asked for a better vacation (although it would have been nice to have Rich and Jared with us).