Reaching York Beach in Maine was the best part. Feeling the sand in between my toes and watching the waves hit my feet. Gazing at the orangy-pink sky shift colors put me in a place where I can just forget everything going on and have a clear mindset for once. The whole point of this trip was to relax and visit my family members, and that's exactly what I did. When I first arrived at the beach house I was approached by my Auntie Carrie, she gave me a hug and invited my mom, papa, (friend) Emma and I in. The house was welcoming enough, it was huge and had a pool outside, but she just wanted me to meet everyone properly. I had met them all sometime in the past however it was nice seeing them again. I usually get the “ oh my gosh you’ve gotten so big” kinda response when she introduces me to them again. I show Emma around the place, introduce her to my cousins and we go unpack our stuff in the room.
   By the time we showed up to the beach house it was already 5:45 so it was somewhat sunny out still. Emma, my cousins, Elissa, David and Kaylee and I all go for a stroll to the beach. Most people were still swimming or even surfing, some on the beach playing games, like frisbee or football and some were hanging at the ice cream shack. Our idea was to just walk the shoreline and even take some pictures. As we hit the end of the shoreline there are rocks and small pools left over from the waves crashing on them, so we search those for starfish or sand dollars.  As the sun falls under the horizon line and the night sky starts to break out, we head back to hot dogs and cheeseburgers on the grill. There are Tiki torches lit up all around and my family is everywhere. There's like 1000 people around us at the moment.
   As the parents hang outside by the fire and have a couple to drink, us kids are inside in the living room playing Jack box. Jack box is this game where we all are logged on to the same website and we make our own questions and drawings for the answers. Trust me, it’s fun when you play with drunk people and teenage boys haha! The night flew by while we play games all night. We went from Jack Box to headbands to cards against humanity. All 9 of us stayed up to like 1 am having a great time.
As the next morning strikes, we all sleep in till 10 or even 11 am. My aunt made us breakfast and we head straight to the beach, by then it’s already 85 to 90 degrees out. Earlier that morning my uncle brought beach chairs, umbrellas and set up the tent so we already have our spot on the beach. As soon as I reached the beach with Emma, Elissa, Kaylee and David I put on tanning lotion had some fruit and ran into the water. It was the perfect temperature for such a hot day and not only was the sky clear the water was too. I mean really the water was crystal clear. The waves that day were probably 10 feet tall and the beach was crazy packed. Ever just sit in a moment, look around and smile knowing you are in your happy place?
After swimming for about 2 hours we finally go back to shore, tan and relax. Laying on the sand feeling the warmth on my skin and listening to the chatter of people and birds, is very soothing to me. We head back to the beach house just to go into the pool and swim. We stayed in the pool playing this weird game the entire afternoon. As the sunset starts to spark in the sky I get out to take a shower and put on some dry clothes. All 7 of my cousins plus Emma and I walk to the Trolly stop and drive down to the stores where we spend an hour at. We walk through every store trying on cute clothes, buying candy, and looking at jewelry/ souvenirs. The little store area is super cute at night, all lit up almost like its magical.
As we head back to the beach house with clothes and candy we sit around the table again and play more games. Once again the parents are all outside listening to the radio by the fire and pool, having a few to drink. Except for this time when the parents go to bed around midnight the kids stay up and pull an all-nighter to watch the sunrise. Those days were very relaxing not going to work and just spending time with my family and friends. They were by far some of the best days of summer 2k18.