I am blessed enough to be a part of a family so big that never breaks ties, and we also never break traditions. For as long as I can remember my family has taken up the tradition to vacation together for a week, and although it may sound chaotic to be in a house with 15-plus family members, it’s what I look forward to the minute summer vacation begins. You would think that after 20 years of renting the same house, being with the same people, ordering the same seafood and playing the same card games that things would eventually tire and die down. Not with my family.

Over time, the adult and kids' table became a mixture of the two, soda was replaced with mixed drinks and beer, but the food is just as amazing as it always was. If my family knew anything, then we knew how to make great food -- the kind that makes us want to catnap or take a trip to our favorite ice-cream place, both of which we usually do before our night full of drinking and games.

Once the alcohol comes out, so do the claws. What I mean by that is, drinking games get serious.I feel bad for the families around us, probably wanting a nice quiet vacation, but once “Left Right Center” and the $1 bills come out, so does the booming voices that follow. I mean we are Italian; I don’t think we could be quiet even if we tried. Poor uncle Steve, I’m not sure if he even slept at all this week.

Along with the games, you’ll find us arguing over the stupid things, too: who stole whose beach chair, which one of us ate all of the buffalo chicken dip and most importantly we find ourselves asking, “Where the hell is everyone sleeping?” The sleeping situation is always changing due to the amount of people that we have in one house. I find my cousin and I curling up on a blowup mattress most of the time, but the one-day out of the week we get a bed is glorious. Still, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Speaking of cousins, some may find it strange how tight-knit we are, but I see it as a benefit and advantage to my life. How many people can say that their cousins are also their best friends? For as long as I can remember, no matter the occasion. my cousins and I always pick up right where we left off, but vacation is the time we appreciate most. We get a whole entire week of seeing each other, making inside jokes, getting in loads trouble which leads to blaming one another for things, but being our complete selves, because one is just as weird as the next.

The kids aren’t the only one’s enjoying themselves though. The parents, too, get a week of relaxation aside from still doing a lot of the cooking and cleaning (which I appreciate). And hey, even mom-mom got to enjoy some time in the sun this year and spending time with her grandchildren, which she pointed out was the best part of her day.

Vacation time with my family is something that I cherish, not only because it’s an escape from work for a week, but also because I get the chance to be surrounded by people I love followed by constant laughing, great memories and delicious mudslides on the beach. This is something I hope we continue for generations to come because there is no vacation like mine and no one else I’d rather spend this time with than my big, crazy, amazing family.