Summer: 44 Days (What I Learned From Taking My Kids To The Beach)

Day 4 of Brandon in the Grand Canyon. Now that it's my last night without him I feel safe enough to write about him being gone just in case an ax murderer happens to read this. I get so paranoid and irrational at night when he is gone that I can't go to sleep. The first night (Thursday) I was too exhausted to do anything productive but too crazy to go to sleep, so I watched multiple episodes of The Office on the computer until I literally couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. 1 am. So dumb. I was sure I heard the ax murderer creeping around outside the house. Do I think if I'm awake to hear his entry I might be able to stop him more effectively? I could call 911 more quickly because I also sleep with the phone in my bed when he's gone. It's totally ridiculous. The baby woke up at 4am and was fussy off and on until Elizabeth woke up around 7:30. This almost always happens when I'm dumb enough to stay up late.

Despite the lack of sleep, I got into high gear and had everyone ready for their last day of Johnson's Camp and "Crazy Hair Day". Kate went with electric blue buns, Elizabeth with blue ponies and Will with a bright orange mohawk. They were sure one of them would win. I had my doubts since Will came back defeated last Friday. (He taped some of the Alpaca wool to his chest. How could he not win? Seriously, that's hysterical!) After all our work, they were in fact defeated again.

Elizabeth went to a friend's house that afternoon and Kate, Will and I watched the 5th Harry Potter while the baby slept. Then we swam awhile at the neighbor's house and called it a day. My day ended with Kate showing me endless youtube clips of baby kittens. The same day we watched over the lost German Shepherd, the neighbors found four abandoned kittens. Kate thinks it's a sign. She is getting desperate.

I let her sleep with me on Friday night so it would force me to go to sleep as well. It worked! I don't know why my kids think it's such a kick to sleep with me when Dad is gone but I figure I should monopolize on these years when they actually want to be around me even if it drives me batty at times. They really do gravitate to me during the day in an uncanny fashion. Even in the bathroom. What's up with that?

I woke up on Saturday morning blessedly late (8am) and started thinking about the day. I wasn't up to taking everyone grocery shopping or running errands, I wouldn't be able to go to the gym, I certainly wasn't going to get anything done around the house with everyone home all day - what about the beach? We made it out the door with lunches packed by 9:45 and hit the sand before 10:30.

Things I learned from taking my four kids to the beach:

1. It's a REALLY long walk from the parking lot to the water with four kids, one beach umbrella, two beach chairs, one packed and heavy cooler, one kite, one bag of sand toys, four beach towels and one more random bag with swim diapers, etc. The baby insisted I carry her of course - yellow crocs intact.
2. Mexico has in fact taken back California.
3. Making sure the kite strings are untangled before putting it away is a really good idea.
4. Half melted Gogurt is NOT a good snack idea for children at the beach.
5. Kate and Will LOVE to boogie board! (I bought one from a "vendor" walking by, along with some fresh mango doused in lemon juice. Yum!)
6. Always put a swim diaper on those that need them. If you think they won't go in the water, they will.
7. Holding the hands of gleefully squealing children as they jump over waves never gets old.
8. Forget about preventing toddlers and small children from injesting sand and Doritos simultaneously. It's just going to happen so you may as well LET IT GO!
9. Glass jars are NOT good options for shell and sand crab collecting. They just might shatter and break under the tire of the car next to you and cut the finger of one of your children on the day you don't have 50 Sponge Bob Band Aids on your person.
10. Baby powder is the secret weapon for sticky, sandy diaper tush. Actually, we all used it for various parts of our body and it ROCKS! The sand just wipes right off. Why didn't I know about this sooner? (Thanks for the tip, Jeanine!) Being sand-free upon re-entering the car was imperative. Brandon took the mini-van to the Grand Canyon and left me with his irritatingly new car. I didn't want him to have a cow when he came home and found it covered in sand.

Last but certainly not least . . .

11. In-n-Out is the only meal option after a beach day. Animal style cheeseburger, fries and a shake thank you very much.

Even though I was pretty wiped when we got home, I cleaned out the car, got the kids showered and settled, handed them over to the babysitter and finally took Kate to see the sixth Harry Potter, wrapping up our marathon. It was great - and so fun to go to the movies with just the two of us! We stayed up late talking in the dark on her bed about the movie. When the conversation turned to cats I took off for my own bed where Will had already gone to sleep. (Tonight is Elizabeth's turn. She fell asleep while I was typing.)

I got my booty kicked today, but in not such a fun way. I'm too tired to write about it so I'll save it for another day.

SUPER SUMMER TALLY: Beach trip - check!