Sheer Bliss Anyone?

The gurls in my family reunion-fied a couple weekends ago. It started as a distraction for Heather because, as you remember, she got run over by a truck awhile ago and decided she may as well use her disability "vacation" to come see her newest niece for the first time. Then my mom decided she'd come for a weekend (in between translating stuff for stuff and getting ready for Bolivia, that's all she could spare; and even so her coming meant she missed dad's homecoming from the Philippines), and then Charisse was like, "count me in!" and Heidi is the same as a sister and Hilary is in transition and that's how we ended up with Instant Reunion (just add Rockaway Beach).

View from the rental.


We did some of this:
*Note how all the games are still neatly stacked. No one even considered playing Candyland. The magazines on the coffee table also remained in a tidy, overlapping row. Like, the whole weekend.
(well, until we got ahold of Vogue. More on that later).

Did I mention we went to the beach for the weekend with no children?

It was heavenly.

We did several of these:


I think Charisse looks beautiful, restful, and happy in this picture:She is modeling the predominant emotion we all felt. And also, she sports a fashionable hood. More on that later.

Heidi and I had a great run on the beach one morning. That was fun. Like old times. Except we never ran on the beach before I don't think.

One of our rules was no cooking allowed. So we ate out.

A lot.Isn't Heidi wearing pretty earrings? And how 'bout those teeth?

The last night we ate at a restaurant described as "not kid-friendly." I think they were referring to the prices not being "family friendly." At least I hope so, because we got sort of .... silly.


Mom wonders for the umpteenth time why she didn't send me to finishing school.

We spent some time perusing the latest fashion trends:
Can you see that? It says: "Swirl together antlers, feathers, and skins for a wild look." That one had us giggling for a long time.
We played some Dominion and indulged in a private spa treatment in the rental's hot tub

and we talked a lot. Uninterrupted. In fact, Charisse stopped mid-sentence at one point and said, "This is the longest conversation I've ever had with any of you!"
You can only take so many pictures.

And finally, none of this would have happened without the support of the husbands holding down the fort while we were gone