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Due to some over-eager planning on my part, we ended up with a small credit for a flight on Southwest. This credit had to be used before mid-January, which meant travel over Thanksgiving or Christmas. But man, it's super expensive to fly over those times. Rather than lose the credit, however, Chuck and I decided that the three boys should take a trip to Arizona to see Chuck's parents. They had fun spending time with them and really taking advantage of the pool in the backyard on those 105-degree days! They also saw petroglyphs, shopped at thrift stores, and saw cousins/aunt/uncle. They had a great time.
And me? What did I do? I worked. But then I cleaned. And guess what? It stayed clean. I'd go to work, leaving behind a clean house, and return, hours later, to the SAME CLEAN HOUSE. It was seriously amazing. No socks stuffed in the couch. No slingshots on the dining room table. No strawberry tops on the kid table. No dirty dishes in the sink. I loved it so very much. I can only think of one other time where I was alone in my house, but that was only for one night and I worked my butt off. The first three days were basically the same: work, home. Thursday I ran with friends, and Friday I took a field trip to the Container Store because it's my heaven. But they were easy days. I ate cereal for dinner, because cooking for one is hard and I just didn't want to.
Saturday, however, I took a short road trip to Hershey for a Boden sample sale. I get the emails announcing the sale every year, but could never swing it. But this year, well, things were different! I listened to podcasts there and back and even got to grocery shop at the really good grocery store on my way home. Lovely. Sunday was a good run, church, and then some food prep for the next day. It was all so very easy. But mostly it was quiet...and clean.
Oh, and I watched about six movies, two of which were subtitled (which I only mentioned because there's no way this would have happened had I not been alone). I recommend "The Eagle Huntress" on Amazon. It's good for kids, if they can handle subtitles.
Spending five days at Assateague was definitely the most consecutive number of days I've spent at a beach. It's definitely the most I've ever spent camping at a beach. We learned some things:
1. State parks need dryers! Nothing ever got fully dry; all swimsuits and towels were perpetually wet. Of course, the heat and wind helped get them to a point where they weren't going to get moldy (unlike my towel at camp), but the humidity and daily use meant they were never fully dry. When we camped in Delaware at their beach, they had dryers. It was amazing. I'd happily pay for those. Or, Assateague could install posts where people could hang towels and suits to dry. This campground was just like Delaware's in that there are NO trees. Nothing. Just sand and some grass. We bought rope thinking we could hang the towels, but nope. So pick one, Assateague.
2. We need to figure out how to cook. Just like the last time we camped at Assateague, it was windy. It is the beach. But I didn't think about how that would affect our ability to start a fire, and conversely, how it would affect our ability to cook dinner! Thankfully we had the Scamp, so we were able to cook inside. But for next time, I'd have to think about it. On the other hand, dinner time is also feeding time for the mosquitoes. Maybe being inside cooking isn't the worst thing.
Because we had already taken a nice vacation to Utah in the spring, and because we both had church camps in June, we didn't have much money or time leftover for another big family vacation. So we opted for a week at the beach. One of Maryland's state parks is right on the beach. Turns out we've been here before, but we didn't have the best experience. And I guess last time we weren't at the state park, rather the national seashore. But it doesn't make that much of a difference. It's all the same coast.
Anyway, this park is very sought-after. There are a lot of sites, but not a lot with electric hook-ups (something I now require for summer camping). The process to get reservations is very difficult and the odds are definitely against you. However, last July I, with backup provided by Chuck and my sister, was able to snag a site with a hook-up. Victory! We left Tuesday morning (traffic over the Bay Bridge was a breeze) and headed straight for the beach. That evening the park hosted a tie dye shirt party and we thought, what the heck. We all made shirts, fairly unsuccessfully, but definitely enjoying ourselves. Well 3/4ths of us enjoyed ourselves.
Wednesday we went to Chincoteague to explore the little town and see the lighthouse. We also stopped at NASA's Wallops Island. It was HOT. And BUGGY. I'm pretty sure I had a 5 millimeter-thick coating of sunscreen + bug spray on at all times. But we did get some delicious ice cream. That night the park showed an outdoor movie, so after an evening beach walk, we went to see the movie (the one with Mowgli in it?). The boys liked that for sure, while Chuck and I felt weird being the only adults there. (Where were all the parents?)
Thursday was Ollie's birthday. He woke up to some pig decorations (his giggling! melted my mama heart!) and a breakfast of previously-made pig pancakes. Then it was off to the beach! After a good chunk of time spent playing in sand and water, we cleaned off and headed to Ocean City. The big attraction for the boys was the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. This is something we would not have done, had it not been a birthday and had the boys not spent hours reading these books (they love them). So they enjoyed that. The adults enjoyed the air conditioning. After that we just walked the boardwalk, shopped in silly stores, and ate some pizza. I think Ollie had a good day.
Friday was my birthday. Unlike last year's big one, this was one I just didn't care about. I did go for a run on the beach, followed up with some yoga also on the beach. The boys gave me some cards and a small present and then it was off to the beach. That afternoon, we did a small hike on the national seashore part of the island before deciding the bugs were too much and we headed back to the Scamp. We played our new game of "Pass the BIG Pigs" and did some campfire-wood-sack races.
Saturday morning we headed home after a morning walk on the beach. We had excellent, if not hot, weather, but it's the beach in summer. The ocean was warm enough for swimming and the boys certainly enjoyed getting out in it. And of course, the digging. Always the digging.
We are always excited when we get to camp with friends. And when the adults are friends AND the kids are friends, well, magic happens. We went camping at the same park we visited in the spring, but this time there wasn't snow and there were friends: Rhett's friend, Alejandro, and his family. Chuck and I enjoy Ale's parents as much as Rhett enjoys Ale, so it was a win-win.
The park has about, oh, two hikes. We did one in March and the other goes straight up a mountain. Given it was July, well, we opted not to hike. Thankfully we had a beach and spent most of our time there. The kids had a great time playing in the water and on the water. We rented boats and Rhett and Ale took one. Ollie and I were in another, but Ollie lasted only 15 minutes before demanding to be let out. Sigh. So I took him back and traded in the double for a single kayak and HOLY CRAP. Single kayaks are the easiest things to maneuver! This fact, and watching Rhett paddle with no adults really got me thinking about whether we should invest in our own kayaks...but more on that later.
We also did some fishing. It frustrated Rhett completely that he caught nothing and Ollie caught a couple. Sorry dude.
Oh, the boys also loved the hammocks.
And this. I have no memory of buying this, except that as of September 1 (about six weeks after camping), the lollipop has not been finished.
We bookended the trip with days at my parents' house in Midway. First let's discuss why we took a trip to Utah in April, and not even over spring break. One word: Hamilton. When it was announced that they'd be touring in Salt Lake, I knew with my parents' season tickets buying power, I'd have a better shot to getting tickets there than when the tour came to D.C. So after begging my parents for their tickets and getting them (!), we bought plane tickets and headed out. (Don't feel too bad for them: they're seeing the show in May.)
Our first full day was **show** day. Thursday morning we just hung out at my parents' house, did some local stuff, took a ride on my Dad's "thing." But then it was **show** time. Chuck and I headed downtown and grabbed dinner first. We went to Red Iguana and it was delicious AND I didn't even spill on my dress. When done, we went to the theater. So amazing. Then we saw the show. It was just incredible. Being able to sit there and focus on the words (rather than listen while making lunches or sweeping), watching the actors' faces, and really listen was just so great. So so great. I really have no words. It was one of the best nights of my life!
After the Moab trip, we were happy that Monday was another low-key day in Midway. More rides on the "thing." More air hockey. More playing on my recently-rediscovered keyboard. (My boys LOVED this! It was hilarious and annoying to watch and listen to them play with it. I just wish I took a picture of them with it! Oh wait, for the fantastic price of only $250, I can buy one on eBay!)
Isn't Timp beautiful behind us?
And then later, Rhett wanted to take the walk up Memorial Hill. Another storm was blowing in and it was INSANELY windy. Because the hike is a spiral, you'd be walking around one part totally fine, but then the next minutes, you're facing in just the wrong direction and almost blown over. At the top, I had Rhett sit and let the wind go crazy with his hair. I love this picture so much. It makes me smile every time.
Of course it was an amazing trip. My parents, as always, are great hosts who never complain about my boys (or their noise). Utah is the best. Always and forever. Always and forever.
My sister really wanted to take us hiking in Goblin Valley and Little Wild Horse Canyon, and I really wanted her to do that too! So that's how we spent Saturday. It was a bit of a drive, but my parents took the little girls, Emily and Ben took the boys, and Chuck and I got some alone (car) time. Lovely.
We opted to start with the canyon, as kids can always muster energy for Goblin Valley. We got to the trailhead and found it PACKED. Granted, the last time I was here was more than 20 years ago, but I know I didn't remember that much traffic! Once we were on the trail, we had it mostly to ourselves...until the water.
Before
Everyone is still dry and happy! My mom came with us (again) and even though at times she was uncomfortable (at best), she did great. The water didn't make it easy and there are other tricky parts that you just forget about. But she was a champ and persevered!
Aaaand then we hit the water. That water is COLD. Nay, FREEZING. Not all of us could really maneuver around it without staying dry, and by the end we all either had wet shoes, wet feet that were put back into dry shoes, or wet faces from all the crying. To protect the guilty, I won't name names.
But I will post guilty pictures. Here's Rhett getting ferried across one particularly deep spot.
There's me and Chuck! This canyon is just so very incredible.
On our way back out. He wasn't happy with me because I made him get in some pictures. I wasn't happy with him because he ran away, even after I told him to stay close so I could take pictures.
My sister takes pictures of her kids in these rocks every time they go. But this time it was all the cousins!
After we finished at Little Wild Horse, we headed to Goblin Valley. My boys were just flabbergasted. Because...who wouldn't be when seeing this for the first time?! How do you even explain this wonder? You can barely see, but that's some (all?) of the grandkids playing in caves. The adults wandered around, trying to keep an eye on the kids, but also taking a nice, long sit break.
Sisters!
When it was about time to go, we had to find the kids. Eventually I got close enough that I could hear them. They all came out of this crazy place only to announce that Ollie had stumbled upon a geocache! Ha. He took a funny little leather pouch and (of course) they left nothing. We're learning.
The after pic. It really was a great day. We headed back to Moab for a pizza dinner. After dinner, we put the kids in front of the TV while the others went for frozen yogurt. Perfect.
