The Gay Family Blog: Surviving the Beach

*Disclaimer: This blog post is honest.

Most people will tell you the beach is one of the most relaxing places on earth. You hear things like "it is my happy place" or "I get lost in a book and forget all my worries." Clearly these people are not travelling with young children - especially mine. I have a vague memory from years earlier where I thought the same thing - it is pretty vague though. In hind site it was a great trip and the boys had a blast - however, there were moments of me wishing for the quiet of my office and the peacefulness of our house. I heard one mom say as her child melted down "his teachers are way underpaid to put up with him all day!" Funny how vacation makes you value the mundane routine of life which is so essential to life with small children. All of that said it was fun when someone wasn't melting down! Had Kevin and I not been worried about little things like our children drowning, sunburns, food, clothing, sleep and other essentials it would have been a breeze. Owen saw no challenges he couldn't conquer, including the 8ft deep swimming pool! Unlike his brother he has no fear or restraint. Drew on the other hand had a plan - yes, I know pot calling the kettle black here. He had such fond memories from year's past he already knew how he wanted the week to go. It was a challenge to say the least. VERY, VERY thankful for our two adult dinners with friends who provided some calm during the storm. In fact I laughed so hard hearing stories from one of Kevin's high school friends my face hurt the next day! I needed some laughter! Drew told us on the way home it was his "most favorite trip ever" so I guess we hid the stress pretty well. Guess we will have to try it again next year - after a year of rest. Now that we are recovered we have laughed a lot about the trip.

This sums it up!
Thank God I didn't pay for a beach portrait session!

Annual breakfast at The Donut Hole was a big hit!

Not to mention the breakfast we had every other day at The Broken Egg.

Water, water and more water! We hit the pool every day, the splash pad at least 5 times and the dreaded beach 3 times. Until these boys can haul their own beach toys we are going to stick with the pool! good news was the water wore them out so naps were good.

In terms of happy places this is about as close as it gets for us. All three as happy as they can be as long as they are hitting the golf ball. And I am more than happy to watch with a glass of wine in hand.