The Beach

So my blogging break was actually a family trip to the beach. Which was, in a word, glorious. We had 12 adults (if you include my 16yo cousin as an adult), a 2 year old and 3 year old in one house for 7 days. Definitely could have been a recipe for disaster but it went incredibly well.

My dad officially retired a few weeks ago and all he wanted for his retirement was for our whole family (plus any extended family that could join in) to go to the beach for a week. We've done family beach weeks in the past but this year we (my dad) splurged and we got a house on the beach. We walked out the back door, down a wooden ramp and were on the sand. It was amazing. I don't think we'll ever go back to the much-more-reasonably-priced second row again.

Anytime you hear about a family vacation that includes one or more babies/toddlers/children, the parents always lament that, of course, it wasn't really a vacation because the baby/toddler/child still got up early, had to be tended to, etc. Well, I have to say, this was a true vacation for Abel and me. Not that we shirked our parental duties completely, but we did shirk them quite a bit.

First, my parents uber-generously offered for Lucas to sleep on his little air bed in their room. That meant that theirs was the bed he crawled into at 3am and they were the people awoken at 6:30am while Abel and I snoozed blissfully away until 8:30 or 9am every single day. And, there were enough doting aunts, uncles, grandparents, second cousins, great aunts and great uncles to help keep him (and the other toddler) entertained on the beach and at the house during all waking hours.

We were on the beach by 9:30am each morning and I took a nap almost every single day (while Lucas was napping). Most days we also went back to the beach in the afternoon/early evening. Or, we walked along the pier or went to the playground. We split dinners so that each couple/family only cooked one night. The remaining two nights we ordered pizza and went out.

One evening (on my sister's night) we cooked up a feast of some of my dad's favorite foods: crab cakes, shrimp, potatoes and corn on the cob; surprised him with a new driver (golf club!); and, did a "roast" sharing our favorite Herb-isms or favorite funny/sentimental stories. It was great fun!

As always, the beginning of the week went by super slowly, feeling like we'd be at the beach forever. And by Wednesday the days seemed to move into warp speed. Our departure on Saturday morning definitely came way to quickly.

But, my oh-so-slightly tan skin and the bit of sand that was tracked into the house via beach chairs and seashells are helping me remember what a glorious week we had.


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!