Cousins

After much deliberation, I have decided that the best way to sum up the Angelos/Paradise family vacation at Deep Creek is to talk about my cousins. My mom is one of 7. My grandparents, six of the siblings and their families came to Deep Creek Lake in McHenry, Maryland for a week under one roof. There are a bunch of us, and we have a lot of fun together. The vacation wouldn't be the same without my cousins! Here is the rundown of the week:

Mike and Dad picked me up on their way out to Deep Creek on Tuesday morning. They had a golf tournament and I had to check in at work on Monday, so we all headed out a bit late. When we got to McHenry, MD, we drove straight to the dock to hop on the boats with everyone. Here are some pictures from our first day:

Mike and Ryan were first to go tubing.

Next up: Meghan, Me, and Brooke (from left to right). Having three in the tube, we took a beating.

Mike and Me

Mom went water skiing and did a front flip. The ski came off and cut into her scalp.

Tubing and Water Skiing were by far our favorite activities. It was an awesome way to start our time at Deep Creek. The week was full on time hanging out around the house, enjoying eachother's company and also celebrations. Here are some pictures from around the house:

Mike, Brooke, and Me

Eddie and Miranda just got married. They had a private wedding in Aruba, so we threw them a mini wedding celebration at the house. It was a great chance to congratulation them and recognize our support for their new marriage.

Pop-pop and Grandmom

The Cousins and Meal Time!
(from left to right)
Brooke, Mark John, Meghan, Nicki, Ryan, and Michael

Another cousins picture!
(Clockwise from the top)
Mark John, Nicki, Emma, Liam, Ryan, Meghan, and me in the middle.

The Twins turned 1 on July 30th so we had a birthday celebration for them!

Liam liked the flame...

...and Liam touch the hot wick as soon as the flame was blown out, burning his little fingers!

After recovering from the burn incident, Liam and Emma opened presents with the help of their family.

We also went mini-golfing, swimming, played tennis, went to an arcade, go-carting, rock climbing and hiking. Here are some more group photos:

Mike, Ryan and Mark John

In the arcade

Brooke, Meghan and Me mini-golfing

The guys!

Most of the Mini-golfing Group

On top of the rock climbing wall:
Brooke, Mark John, Me, Nicki, and Mark (Ryan was taking the picture)

The babies swimming!

Kayaking: Megan, Me, Ryan, and Gina and Nicki in the kayak.
I think Brooke was taking the picture.

Mark and I love to kayak. When I found out that my cousins had never been before, it seemed like the perfect afternoon activity. For $26 I was able to rent a double kayak for two hours and teach them all how much fun it is. The thing I didn't realize was how much my arms would burn after paddling my cousins around for 2 hours!

Getting reading to go go-carting. Me, Mark, Ryan, Mike, and Meghan.

After the go-carts: the crew.
Mark had just driven in rush hour out to Deep Creek. It was nearly 10pm. We didn't even let him go to the house first, we directed him straight to Smilies to have some fun!

On our last day, we hiked the area around Swallow Falls.
Angelos/Schreiber family photo op!

Paradise Family Group Hiking Photo

So there you have it, our family vacation in a nutshell! I know this post was long, but there really isn't any way to shorten it. We made some many great memories. There are a whole lot more photos on facebook incase this wasn't enough! :-)