Throughout my childhood, our extended Cooper family (over 40 of us!) used to vacation down at The New Jersey Shore every year. It was the first trip of the summer as we always went the second week of June, just after school got out. We looked forward to it all year long! As our families grew and became older, the trips became fewer and fewer. Some families continued on but eventually it was no longer a tradition. Although the trips faded away, the memories did not. Long road trips and car pools, sunning on the beach, jumping the waves of the ocean, rolling down the car windows to smell the salty air, early morning bike rides on the boardwalk, chewy New Jersey beagles in the morning, evening ice cream at the Sea Shell, walking by the pink ladies of Cape May, night roller coster rides on the boardwalk, sunset kickball on the beach, classic family photos and a week full of laughs and good memories made with our cousins and family. These memories are forever ingrained in our hearts!
It has been over 15 years since we have been back. New family has been added, marriages have happened and new babies have been born. We have been longing to get back to the Shore to create new memories and relish the old ones. This year, we finally made it happen! Almost the whole crew got back together for a week of life down at the Shore and it was oh so good. The week looked a little different with two littles, a 14 hour car ride and trying to get them to nap on the beach but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
Here are some favorites from the week. I am so thankful to our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who continued this tradition for so long, giving us memories to last a lifetime. Here’s to continued traditions and continuing on the family legacy of spending quality time with the ones we love most.
