Beach Party Baby

So this weekend my sister threw our first annual 'Birthday in July' party. What's this? Well to explain, 4 of 5 siblings (yes I am Irish Catholic) has a birthday either in late December or January, and then to top it off I married someone with a birthday in December, my children are January and February birthdays and my nephew is a January baby - phew! That's alot. And as someone whose birthday is in late December, I can attest first hand; no one wants to have a birthday party after all those holiday and new years events. Everyone is simply burned out on food and fun. So for a few years we've been talking about having a single party to celebrate all those birthdays, and now my sister actually made good on it.

Swampgardener rented the Gardener Pavilion at Devereaux Beach in Marblehead for $50 bucks from 3-6. What a deal! For that bargain price you've got a family friendly beach with close parking, a boardwalk perfect for lugging gear, babystrollers and soothing hot feet, and a playground right on the beach to entertain the kids that get bored at the ocean (my son!). Here's a pic of the park (below). Keep in mind that parking for all but the townies on the weekend is $10 bucks - unless you rent one of two pavillions for a 3 hour block. Then parking is free. We actually got there and were told the lots were full, we mentioned we were with the party at the beach and got let into the lot. Do the math; bring in 5 cars and you break even. Even with carpooling - we still had around 5 cars for about 25 people.

There are hibachis on site, so you bring your coals and lighter fluid and you're cookin'... literally. Now there's no public drinking in Mass and Devereaux beach is no exception, but we had some...ahem...punch...that was not to be sampled by the chillens' that put just the right glow on the day...and us.

This was also baby girl's first trip to the beach. It's guaranteed to be the first of many, as a beach day is one of my favorite ways to spend a summer day either with or without kids in tow. She was great, got passed around the family, didn't fuss too much and even managed to sleep for a little bit too. To top it off she only got one mouthful of sand for the whole event. That is what I call a successful beach day.

A snap of my guys at the beach punctuates the beauty of the day.