2008 – Sandbridge Beach, VA

• Karen arrives dragging something under her car

• Mark and family arrive late due to Amy’s wedding.  Wes introduces his bride-to-be Christine

• Geneva without Sarah?  First time since Sandbridge 20 years ago!

• Mom, having already done Sandbridge, decides she wants something closer to Virginia Beach so she checks into the Virginia Beach Medical Center.   She has her gall bladder and 5 stones removed

• A gathering of children and grandchildren say the rosary with Dad for Mom on the upstairs deck (Who knew there were Luminous Mysteries)

• The house was right across the street from the beach.  The kids enjoyed boogie boarding in the warm water with the jellyfish

• Frank, ever the romantic, takes Anna out for pizza for 14 years of bliss

• We picked out next years house before we even left this one.

1993 – Lake Anna, VA

• After the chill of New Hampshire, the family heads south again.   Dad makes the arrangements after Frank alerts him to an ad in the Washington Post.   House is large with lots of decks and its own private beach

• Compensating for the frigid waters of Lake Winnipesaukee were the nuclear heated waters of Lake Anna

• The soft goo one had to walk through to get into the water made direct entry from the dock the entrance of choice

• Frank and Anna arrive late in the week

• Our most destructive vacation:  The marina claims we damaged the propeller on the motorboat. Joe, Austin and Wes wrestle and put a hole in the wall of the house

• Thanks to Wes, there are 7 minutes of video footage of the house owner’s stomach

• Mom and dad play ping pong.   Mom thinks it’s very funny that she is winning.   But dad fight back! Suddenly the game isn’t so funny anymore

• At the end of the week the owner of the house lets us use of his toys – much fun is had dragging people in inner tubes behind a rented power boat.  Mark comes away with a much better appreciation for the strength of centrifugal force after being pulled (with Frank) behind the boat being driven by Joe.  Skipping off the raft Mark enters into a low satellite orbit around the earth

1988 – Sandbridge Beach, VA

• The family heads south for warmer climates

• First “everybody in one house” attempt

• Vanessa and infant Geneva attend their first Family vacation

• Karen, feeling like a beached whale, at a full 8 months pregnant, lies to her doctor to attend

• Mary brings a date – the wrong date

• David visits

• Fireworks on the beach for the 4th of July

• Side trip to Williamsburg to satisfy the kids keen interest in history…. And the opportunity to pay a hefty sum to stand in the heat while a woman in period costume explains how to make soap and candles

• Boys sleep in a loft above the living room