Delaware
We took a semi-impromptu trip to the beach last week. Our original plan had been to drive up to Vermont to see our friends and soak up a little New England summer charm again, but thanks to Heidi and her psychotic aversion to the car, 18 hours of road trip was not happening. But I thought we could survive two hours, and Karl had already requested the time off work, so we found a little beach house available at the last minute and drove out to Delaware.
I know, Delaware doesn't sound like a very exciting vacation destination, but it's where the Washingtonians go for shore time and we'd never tried it. I found a dog-friendly condo, on a beach block, with bunk beds, and off we went.
And by "off we went," I mean we packed the van to the gills with all of the things one needs to travel with three children under five. We typically travel very light, but a vacation like this is a different story. We can't really eat in restaurants with all of them, so there's four days' worth of food prepped and packed. Linens and paper goods. Beach paraphernalia. Enough activities to entertain the kids in a house with no toys. Baby gear. Gin.
Heidi's driving has not improved at all since our trip to New Jersey, but we survived. The kids were super excited about their new little house and especially the bunk beds. Ingrid napped as soon as we settled in, then we hauled everyone out to the beach in the late afternoon. It was a surprisingly nice beach -- really wide, clean, life-guarded, not too crowded. Neither of the big kids seemed to remember our day-trip to the Maryland shore last summer so the beach felt like a new experience to both of them.
Henry's response: This is awesome! I feel ALIIIIIIIVE! I FEEL ALL THE POWER OF THE OCEAN!!!
Ingrid's response: AAAAAH! THE SCARY MOVING WATER IS TOUCHING ME!!!
Taking three small children to the beach is no joke. Henry was perpetually one wave away from drowning. Heidi was not keen on being left lying on a sandy blanket, and she needed to nap during beach time every day. So one of us had Heidi in the Ergo while the other had a vise grip on Henry, and Ingrid dug in the sand and refused to touch the ocean.
Henry has a newfound love of coloring, writing, and craft projects, which was perfect for quiet time in our little condo.
Other new-found hobbies: sitting up!
Doing the beach with everyone was an endurance event. Aside from the Heidi-car situation, there was a lot of melting down. We only spent about 2 hours at the beach each morning and then everyone sort of lost their marbles. We were all a little under-slept, including one terrible morning when Heidi woke up at 4:30 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep. I know, there are worse things than seeing the sun rise over the Atlantic. But there are better things too. Like sleeping on vacation.
On the other hand, the kids were ecstatic about the beach and being off on an adventure. Plus it was (I think?) the first time we've had our full nuclear family (including Izzy!) and only our nuclear family on a trip since we started having children. It was really nice. I love my little crew.
I'm having computer issues and can't process the good pictures yet, but I'll get them up on Picasa eventually.
I know, Delaware doesn't sound like a very exciting vacation destination, but it's where the Washingtonians go for shore time and we'd never tried it. I found a dog-friendly condo, on a beach block, with bunk beds, and off we went.
And by "off we went," I mean we packed the van to the gills with all of the things one needs to travel with three children under five. We typically travel very light, but a vacation like this is a different story. We can't really eat in restaurants with all of them, so there's four days' worth of food prepped and packed. Linens and paper goods. Beach paraphernalia. Enough activities to entertain the kids in a house with no toys. Baby gear. Gin.
Heidi's driving has not improved at all since our trip to New Jersey, but we survived. The kids were super excited about their new little house and especially the bunk beds. Ingrid napped as soon as we settled in, then we hauled everyone out to the beach in the late afternoon. It was a surprisingly nice beach -- really wide, clean, life-guarded, not too crowded. Neither of the big kids seemed to remember our day-trip to the Maryland shore last summer so the beach felt like a new experience to both of them.
Henry's response: This is awesome! I feel ALIIIIIIIVE! I FEEL ALL THE POWER OF THE OCEAN!!!
Ingrid's response: AAAAAH! THE SCARY MOVING WATER IS TOUCHING ME!!!
Taking three small children to the beach is no joke. Henry was perpetually one wave away from drowning. Heidi was not keen on being left lying on a sandy blanket, and she needed to nap during beach time every day. So one of us had Heidi in the Ergo while the other had a vise grip on Henry, and Ingrid dug in the sand and refused to touch the ocean.
Henry has a newfound love of coloring, writing, and craft projects, which was perfect for quiet time in our little condo.
Other new-found hobbies: sitting up!
Doing the beach with everyone was an endurance event. Aside from the Heidi-car situation, there was a lot of melting down. We only spent about 2 hours at the beach each morning and then everyone sort of lost their marbles. We were all a little under-slept, including one terrible morning when Heidi woke up at 4:30 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep. I know, there are worse things than seeing the sun rise over the Atlantic. But there are better things too. Like sleeping on vacation.
On the other hand, the kids were ecstatic about the beach and being off on an adventure. Plus it was (I think?) the first time we've had our full nuclear family (including Izzy!) and only our nuclear family on a trip since we started having children. It was really nice. I love my little crew.
I'm having computer issues and can't process the good pictures yet, but I'll get them up on Picasa eventually.
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