We recently returned from vacation and for once we had weather above 63 degrees. I know the kids had a great time as my wife and I were exhausted by the end of each day. A three hour car ride with two kids who like to be in continual motion is not always the best thing for anyone's sanity, although we managed to do alright until the last thirty minutes when the Girl just wanted out and the Boy was very excited about the beach. We arrived before check-in (3 pm) so we could head down tot he beach and spend an extra day in the sun & sand and it worked out great, although we learned a few things along the way. The first thing we learned was if your kids to stay close either sit next to someone's big hole or dig your own hole for the kids to play in. A hole on the beach with a little water in the bottom is a kid magnet. So after a day the beach process became setup canopy then dig big hole with plastic bucket and wish that a beach waiter would come by and bring a nice beverage (unfortunately this didn't happen as I believe they only have those at all-inclusive resorts). Then it was in and out of the lake and running around with the kids, eating lunch, trying to wrangle kids for more sunscreen, reminding the boy about 1,000,000 times not to throw sand, convincing the waves were fun, taking down canopy, packing up and heading back up the big stairs back to our accommodations, bathing the kids and getting the Girl to take a nap while I was still hoping for the beach waiter.
The Boy loved every minute of the beach, except when he had to sit in time out because I had to remind him the 1,000,001th time not to throw sand. He is a social butterfly and will play with any kid he can, especially if they have cooler toys than us which was often the case. To our disbelief on the third day he wanted to go back in the lake which we said sure and he went by himself. We thought he would only go out a little bit and stop but he reached the sand bar and just kept going, at that point I leaped and ran out to stay close as we were shocked that he would venture out like that. We were happy he would but also wanted to make sure he would be ok as the waves were a little rough. The last day I took him out farther and we were rolling with the waves when he didn't jump when one came and it went over his head, he didn't freak out but was more surprised than anything and he was ok with it. When we were home I asked him what was the best (or favorite) thing from the vacation and he responded, "My favorite was when that wave went over my head." I was shocked.
Then on the last night we decided to go see the fireworks, there is a very strict rule of no reserving spots before 12:01 am on July 4th with blankets and stakes, rocks and duct tape are prohibited. In the afternoon, I drove down to try to get a spot but I couldn't even park my car closer than our accommodations, so I drove back and we decided to walk down to the boardwalk and see if we can find a spot. We left our room at 8:00 pm , and decided these nice benches on the boardwalk would be perfect except that it was only about 8:25 pm and the fireworks as we found out didn't start until 10:25 pm. So for two hours we had to entertain two very tired children. We managed with the boat channel and watching boats, ice cream and my wife freaking out about a pit bull (it was actually the nicest trained dog she had ever see). But as it was getting darker and taking longer we realized we were a little left of crazy. Their were some very nice families sitting near us so the Boy had some kid entertainment although he had a hard time understanding that the girl about 4 inches or so shorter than him was 6, fortunately he didn't realize her brother an inch or two shorter than him was 8 because he associates height with age and the Boy is still 5 but about 4' 1" tall. Then the Girl about 10 pm had enough and was tired but we somehow managed to keep her mostly happy as we waited and waited for the show to start. Finally it started and all was good and when it was over, and we had to hike back a mile and up those steep beach stairs one more time.
A great, crazy, exhausting but awesome vacation.
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