the bests.

i have the best friends.

i know everyone must say that, but i really do mean it.

sure, we have our differences. 

we have some disagreements.

we all sure have our own issues, and we're sorting those out together or alone as best we can. 

we have our drama when it comes out, but never for long and never too much.

they are the kind of friends who have twenty-minute shakira dance parties in the living room so loud the upstairs neighbors come down to complain. 

the friends who understand my toothpaste talk. 
they are the friends who help me make my cupcakes, because it's so much more fun when they help.
we all have the same camelbak water bottles. silly, but it counts for something, right?

the friends i don't get annoyed with when they complain-

i just join them. 

they are the ones who will stay up for hours for me just because they know i don't want to be alone and i haven't said everything i want to say, even if we sit in silence for most the time. 

they are the ones who know that banana pancakes are a universal solvent, and they don't judge me when i cut the banana too thick. 

their hugs are universal solvents too. 

they are the ones i have cried to the most, and laughed with even harder. 

they are the first people to pick me up when i'm lower than ever. they will hold me when i want to be held and back off when i don't. 

they are the first people i want to tell good news or a funny story. 

they are the friends who sing the harmony for me, or sometimes let me sing it.

 they will sing in the car at the top of their lungs with me, even if it isn't in tune. 
they are the friends i will always stick up for, even if i disagree.

the friends who make sonic runs with me three times a week just so we can get the summer deals and our cherry limeades. 
they will go visit the lovely ladies at the beehive home with me just because they know it means a lot to me.

they can read minds. they know exactly what each look you give them means, even if they haven't seen it before.

friends i tell everything to, just because i am comfortable enough to tell them anything. 

they are the friends i can't lie to. and i have absolutely no desire to. it might cross my mind if i want to keep something to myself or don't want to tell the whole truth, but as soon as i walk in, there is no way that lie is going to leave my mouth. no way. 

they are the friends who will stay friends no matter what.

they always have my back and i will always have theirs.

they are the people i can't imagine living without because they are the people who make life worth living. they are the people who make it easier to live unafraid.

you know who you are.

love,

lo.

great white.

right now i smell like the sea.

and i have a layer of salt over my skin.

we arrived in cape cod late last night.

the drive was horrible, but it's over and i have a week to recover from it. i slept in for longer than i have in a while, and after i showered we went out on the boat.

i don't know about you, but i'll take a day on the boat over a day at the beach any day.

we rode out to monomoy to go fishing. in case you aren't aware, monomoy island is where all the great white sharks hang out because that's where all the seals are. i guess they have moved to chatham for now, but we did see a few seals. despite the title of this post, we didn't see any sharks. maybe tomorrow.

the fish were kind of scarce so we only caught three stripers. megan was probably the funniest to watch just because it took every muscle in her body just to reel in her fish. so naturally, i took a lot of pictures of her struggle against that thirty-three inch fish.

i know i said cape hatteras was a sleepy sea town, but cape cod feels even more so. it's not because it's as quiet. it's because it's new england. new england towns have such a different feel. there aren't the big, tall, showy beach houses that you see in florida. there are huge houses that happen to be on a beach. houses that just look like they belong to billionaires, and probably do. with house boats sitting right outside and shiny, new cars parked in the driveway. think martha's vineyard.

all of the houses are the same shades of new england neutrals and covered with wooden, grayish shingles for siding. big shutters are a must. occasional pops of red are satisfactory.

i will take more pictures of the houses later this week. 

until tomorrow.

love,

Lo

last day.

our last day at the beach was typical.

take in as much sun as possible and then take pictures.

my dad, cowan, and i rented a kayak for a bit and spent some time on the water. 

the girls spent most of their time digging a hole and running from the water.

and megan... well here's what megan did:

exhibit a:

surfer guy.

exhibit b:

megan checking out said surfer guy.

 this whole trip megan and cowan have had no trouble expressing their opposite-gender craze, which says to me that this has become somewhat of a norm for them, especially cowan. bleh. i've seen girl-crazy and boy-crazy teens before, but dang, really?

they'll grow out of it, right?

i don't remember every being like that, but maybe i was just never confident enough to be like that.

[end of tangent]

i have determined that it is impossible for anybody to take good beach pictures. if their pictures look perfect, it's because they photoshopped their family onto a beach backdrop they found online.

what we always forget until we actually get down to the beach is that [beach = wind]. and wind at the beach is not that nice sea breeze you imagine. you spend more time trying to get your hair out of your face and complaining about the wind than you do smiling for the camera.

if you pay attention, you'll see most of the time we have hair in our mouths.

  

[minus a close-up of megan because she didn't want one]

here's the final family picture.

and now our cape cod adventures to follow.

love,

Lo