Good Morning from the beach :) Haven't been here for four long months and the sight of the beach house was one for sore eyes. The ocean welcomed us back with huge waves the first day and calmer ones yesterday. About to head up and see what she has to offer today. Our beach house is not only a beautiful place, it is a refuge that we think about while going about our daily lives, working, errands, whatever we are doing, it is not far from our thoughts. Sometimes in fact, just thinking about it calms the mind :) We bought this house 10 years and at the time weren't sure we could really afford it but the timing was such that I felt we needed to do it, life goes by so quickly, we'd talked about it for 10 years, the time was right in that regard. Now ten years later and we have had so many wonderful experiences here that we would have never had without it. It is a special place to many of our family members and friends, who we cherish visits from. We've seen kids grow up here. Cody and Courtney were 8 & 11 when we started bringing them. They are now grown ups! Henry and Emmett were little guys and Will wasn't even born yet. Luke, Emma, Malissa and Claire haven't visited us enough here but when they have, its been great. We have lots of photographs of everyone each year and its fun to look back and remember the good times. Some of the favorite things they like to do here are: Henry and Emmett love to ride bikes with me :) All three of them like to go down to the osprey nest. Emmett and Lucy have a special bond and last summer Will and she began one also. He was thrilled when she stayed on his lap without anyone clutching her so tight she couldn't get down on her own. A milestone, if you know Lucy you know this to be true. Henry is an aspiring chef and has cooked up some good eats for us here. We have started an annual HUGE dinner when Zach, Tracy and the boys are here, and the main focus is our friend Carlyle's now famous crab cakes. I think the record for Henry is five crab cakes in one sitting. Cody loves Whack-A-Mole on the boardwalk and ends up with so many prizes that we all get one by the weeks end. Another tradition we have with Cody and Courtney is our nightly games of Sorry. I never new how much fun that game could be until we started playing it with them 10 years ago. Now its every night. And it can get pretty cut-throat :) Judy, Richard and Lana love Thrasher's (who doesn't?). Most times when he visits he must have them immediately upon arrival! Kathy is especially happy about that, having someone love Thrasher's the way she does. Lana and I do yoga on the beach when she's here. I also convince her to bike with me, which usually turns into more miles than she was originally told. Sue loves everything beach as far as I know, even Thrasher's though she has more self control than anyone I know when around a bucket of them, piping hot with vinegar splashed on them. Cindy and Dustin have only been down a few times but that is going to change. He and I share a love of cycling and have started a tradition of doing the Ocean to Bay ride in April. Kind of kicks off the cycling season. Lots of folks enjoy outlet shopping. I reserve that for a time when its too cold or rainy to be on the beach or on a bike :) We are also thrilled when we get visits from Brooke, Frank and Will. Will had his first ever beach experience here! In the fall, Kathy's favorite thing is the independent film festival. The most movies so far she has seen in four days is 12! Good grief! The search for sea glass is on, all the time, for us, and now for most most of our guests. Richard is still in search of the ever elusive piece of red glass and my hope is that he finds it here, in the shape of a heart. We once paid Cody and Courtney a quarter a piece to find us some. I know I am forgetting special people, so forgive me. Please know that each and everyone of our visitors are special to us and are what makes this house a wonderful place, full of love, laughter and memories.