For more than 20 years, my extended family has packed their bags and headed off for a week of vacation.

Typically, summer has been the season we have journeyed, but there have been years we have gone at other times.

Some of our earliest trips included vacations to the mountains to ski, and there were spring break vacations where we boarded a cruise ship and headed out to exotic islands.

However, for the last few years we have traveled in the summer and made the trek to the Gulf Coast. Some of our stays have been in Panama City, San Destin, Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. This year Dad picked one of our favorites, Destin.

Some of you may be wondering how a clan made up of three, and now four, generations can all get along and vacation together for nearly a week, but as God as my witness, it can be done!

Now make no mistake, there have been some “Chevy Chase vacation” moments, especially during dinner times.

Just so you will know for future reference, there is NEVER a table just waiting for a small army when you arrive at a restaurant, and even if there was, most places on the beach do not take reservations. It is inevitable, there is at least a 30-minute wait before all can be seated.

This has made for some hairy moments for the youngest in our group, and if I am completely truthful, it has been challenging for some of us adults, too.

You know, lying on the beach all day can really work-up an appetite, which inevitably can make it nearly impossible not to become hangry (that is hungry and angry combined) while smelling the enticing aromas from the catch of the day.

Nevertheless, by the time, dinner has been consumed and our bellies filled, all is good with the world again.

So aside from eating out together, everything else about our trips usually occurs without a hitch thanks to Daddy having the good sense to not put us all in one house.

You know a girl has to have a few private moments, and besides, my hair products alone take up the entire bathroom counter!

While vacations are planned every year, with a family of 24 including my parents, their three children and spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, not everyone in the family has always been able to make the trip, mostly due to work.

However, this year for the first time I had the luxury of spending time at the beach with all of my children and grandchildren.

The memories made this year will be priceless.

In addition to hanging out with my siblings and their families at the beach, I also had the joy of watching my grandchildren play in the waves and water even though it took one of my grandsons a day to warm up to the sand.

Summer is a time when many families trek out on a vacation to relax and play.

My summer vacation came to a close last week, but there was so much love and happiness during the week, I know it will carry me until next year.

Happy Summer.

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicskburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.