Post Vacation Roundup
As M put it on the drive home (over the screams) "Well, this year wasn't NEARLY as bad as last year, and NEXT year should be just GREAT!" It always helps to have a "glass is half full" person in every relationship...
But seriously, the trip far exceeded my expectations. Or, rather, the kids far exceeded my expectations. They played well with each other, fairly well with Cousin C, and although they reverted back to some very undesirable sleep patterns, I have hope that they will straighten out after a few days at home. Of course C still whined his way through the vacation, "But I don't WANT to go to the beach..." "But I don't WANT to leave the beach...,"and A, despite her illness, still threw some massive temper tantrums. I think Cousin C learned some rather unpleasant habits during her stay. Sorry Auntie M...
OK, so on to the activities. Of which there were actually very few, as this was the vacation of the choo choo. We went to the Seashore Trolley Museum multiple times, took six (or was it seven) trolley rides and explored every inch of the place on foot. By the end of our second week all of the volunteers knew C's name and were giving him high fives. Then Saturday we took the kids to TtFTE, which is deserving of its own post, but let's just say C figured out within five minutes that Thomas wasn't real, and A started crying when she saw the bobble head Sir Tophen Hatt, so the visit wasn't even close to worth the outrageous price we paid for the tickets. But, we did manage to escape without buying anything besides a water and a muffin, so it wasn't all bad I suppose.
The highlight of the trip for C, (outside of the trolley museum of course) was the little camp at the beach community center. He took tennis lessons and had two hours of your basic, run-of-the-mill day camp from my childhood that involved freeze tag, scavenger hunts, animal crackers, and a host of knock-knock jokes. No theme days, no enriching activities, just good old camp. And thanks to his camp experience, I met people more people during those two weeks then I have in all of the previous 20+ summers put together. Of course they all know me only as C's mom, but it made me feel like royalty to be out to dinner with M and have kids on bikes stopping by to wave and point me out to their parents.
I know this is a cop out post, but quite honestly after the laundry and cleaning and day of normal activities, the beach seems very, very far away. And I am just a little jealous that Auntie M and Nana are still up there basking in the sun. So I'm choosing to move forward and comment that in two short weeks my children start school, and I get one morning a week (OK, two hours of one morning) in which to grocery shop in peace. And that my friends, is no small thing.
For your viewing pleasure, the beach in all its glory. And this picture was taken at 3pm. I love this beach.
