A glimpse into our life as a family on our beach vacation with three generations at Sandbridge, VA
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| The Corner Deli in Remington, VA |
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| Gino's Pizzeria by Maurizio |
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| Golf cart ride with Mrs. U and Cooper! |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 386+ hours (of 1000)
What a beautiful weather week we had at the beach! We had just a few mini thunderstorm bursts but mostly it was perfectly sunny and hot. We did a pretty good sunscreen job and no one really suffered from sunburn (yay!) we did have a very sand-rashed child named Rusty who loves to play right in the wave crash area. The deck was decorated so magically with lights at night, but the mosquitos were out in full force so we didn't spend too much time outside after dark (bummer)
Reading and finishing First Time Caller by BK Morison. It was alright but I do think there is such a thing as too slow of a slow burn and this book was definitely that. Then I started reading Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine and also continuing I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Catching up on sleep because my body literally forced me to! I was asleep by 9pm the first three nights of vacation against my own will (hhah). It was wonderfully healing to float in the ocean or sit in the hammock on the pool deck at the house reading my book or planting my beach chair close enough to the water that the waves hit my feet while I read and watch the kids in the water. peace to my soul
Using PhotoCircle to share all the beach pics with everyone. I was introduced to Photo Circle from the soccer tournament in NJ (thank you teenage girls!) and it was very handy to be able to have everyone dump their photos into the same place for sharing and saving.
F I S H I N G. always with the fishing. All our boys were very happy to have their rods in the ocean. There was early morning fishing, dusk fishing, and even taking the paddleboard out to fish past the waves. The boys caught some cool stuff like flounder, croakers, and bluefish!
A lot of kid-led fun which is the whole point of the beach. When they want to swim in the pool - we head to the pool. When they want to go to the ocean - we walk to the ocean. If they are ready to get out of the sun, we let them watch tv and fall asleep mid day. We wake up slow and we don't rush out the door. We linger around the kitchen island after meals or before bed. It is slow and relaxed and a perfect break from our normal hustle bustle.
Smiling at our Ocean babies. Our kids love being in the waves of the ocean and that makes me so happy. They boogie board, play kind of the mountain on the paddleboard, body surf, jump waves, try to withstand the waves crashing on them, dive under waves, surf (!), and dive down for shells. We spent considerable time in the ocean every day. Olive, Red, and Rusty also loved going from the ocean to the pool to keep the swimming going at lunch time. I thought they were maybe going to start growing gills with as much time as the youngest three spent in the water over the week!
Playing nighttime games which is my kids' very favorite part of hanging out with extended family. We played werewolf most nights which is probably the biggest family favorite. The kids played Hitster, The Game of Life, magnetic stones, and Spot-It. Abba and Chum organized a treasure hunt with a real treasure chest for the kids one night. Rusty and Violet got to help set it up and we all cracked up as the kids ran all over the beach looking for clues while other beach goers smiled at the mayhem of the little kids giggling and sprinting.
Family photo night on the beach. Everyone got dressed up-ish and we got to the ocean in time for Golden Hour. The boys all held it together long enough to get pictures and then as soon as we were done, they were running and diving everywhere into the sand and got properly dirty in their niceish clothes they brought with them (hah).
Night time Crab spotting. We all headed out to the beach on the last night to spot crabs and the kids had a blast. Grateful we did it and kind of glad we waited until the last night because we would have had to do it every night otherwise - hah! Reddy was diving everywhere to catch the crabs and we had enough phone flashlights or headlamps to keep most of the kids satisfied. Next time we'll need to remember more head lamps!
Time with family and friends - well the whole week was time with family! But we got even a few more added time! Violet and Rusty got a golf cart nighttime ride with the their friend Cooper and his aunt Abby. They were visiting Sandbridge the same week as us! Our family friends Josh, Marjorie and their kids who leave near Viriginia Beach came down to Sandbridge to visit too which made Violet happy that she could get some one-on-one surf lessons from Marjorie! (thank you!)
Sporting with a whole week off! Although all the kids boogie boarded like little maniacs, Olive swam like a mermaid in the pool, Reddy chased down and snagged crabs like they were recovered fumbles, Rusty played multiple games of ping pong, Violet learned to surf (!), and Grey and Gem went nearly undefeated in Spike ball (only lost one game all week!) I did a few sports chores though like ordering the boys' mouthguards, paying for Gemma's alumni soccer game jersey, and getting Gemma registered for the Saint Francis soccer team camp.
Making enough for 19 this week! It was a group effort and many Walmart deliveries to keep the fridge stocked. I packed my crockpot and we also had the stove and grill at the house. We had elk burgers/ hot dogs with roasted potatoes, meatball sub sammies in the crockpot, church picnic chicken on the grill with peas&cheese pasta, sloppy joes with shells & cheese and roasted broccoli, take out pizza from Gino's Pizzeria by Maurizio, buffalo chicken dip with chips and veggie dippers, sheet pan chicken fajitas, spaghetti, beef roast with potatoes and green beans, seafood boil with shrimp and kielbasa, and teriyaki chicken and broccoli with noodles. For breakfasts we had dbl chocolate pumpkin muffins, egg casserole, egg wraps, pancakes, and lots of bacon. For desserts we had Aunt Kitty's salted chocolate chip cookies and treats from the ice cream truck from Abba and Aunt Carli who spoils these babies so well!
Intentional Movement: well, kind of a bust in the sense of weighted vest walks and rollerblading. I did rollerblade half a mile on our street and fell once because I hit a patch of sand. After that, I was kind of uninterested in rollerblading LOL. I spent most of the time in the water when we were at the beach helping kids dive through waves, surf, or swimming. I got up to standing on the paddleboard once to prove to the kids that first of all I could and secondly that if their old momma could - they certainly could!
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