WTF - Packing for a Trip

We are ending up our two weeks at the beach, and I can't tell you how much I hate having to get everything ready for heading to the mountains.  Here's a list of things Mom and Dad need to do:

1.  Clean out the fridge, hear the hubby stand behind me complaining about all the food that got forgotten in the back of the fridge and how much money we are wasting (I could turn with the grey strawberries and offer them to him, but that probably wouldn't go over too well)

2.  Clean out the cabinets wondering who bought the 14 cans of Spaghettios and who was ever going to eat the Kale Chip/Dried Carrot Veggie Snacks, and then remembering in was me in on that first day thinking, "This year we are going to eat healthy, read our books, practice violin AND do math problems EVERY DAY."

3.  Pack up violin, books and Math books with a sigh.

4.  Clear out the bathrooms.  I'm taking all that shit with me.  No I don't mean shit, I mean toilet paper, hand wash, I paid for it, so I'm taking it.

5.  Pack up all the beach crap.  Spend too much time trying to get the sand off of it, then trying to get the sand off of me.

6.  Organizing and packing the trailer full of bikes, kayaks, paddle boards and crap.  It's like a life-size game of Tetriz, and I am losing.

7.  Crawl under couches, beds and chairs - find the pair of nail clippers you've been looking for all week, very happy that you just bought another pair at the store because you couldn't find the original pair, find someone else's sunglasses, happy that you are now ahead.

8.  Take all the stuffed animals won at the cheap arcade and put them in a large trash bag, parade past the children showing them the bag.  Go stuff it in a closet for the next renters.

9.  Pickup all the dog poop in the area from two weeks.  Wonder how so much can come out of such a small creature.

10.  Tell the kids it's time to go.  They explain they are not ready yet.  Ask what they have to do.  They say they have to pack.  Think that's what we've been doing all morning, this is going to take forever.

They're out 5 minutes later after throwing all their shit into their backpack.

It's time to go, one last go through the house, checking dressers, cabinets, refrigerator, dryer, and dishwasher.  When everything is secure, lower the unit temperature and walk out to your truck, pulling a trailer full of crap and head on home.

Return 10 minutes later to the dog waiting by the front door.

Behind every good idea there's that little voice,

So this morning as I was settling with a cup of coffee and a little writing, dear hubby walks up and says, "Let's paddle across Taylor Creek to Carrot Island and walk to the beach!"

(I'm thinking, "WHAT?"  "Are you kidding me?"  "What about my writing?")

"Sure honey, let's do it."  (Am I really going to make it across the creek?  What about the boats?  Stand up paddle boarding across the waterway?  What if I fall in?  Why is my heart beating so fast?)

It's a adventure of 5 - Erik in a kayak with Emma, Jeff in a kayak, Maria and myself on the paddle boards.  Now comes the real adventure of the trip.

"We're going to walk across to the beach!  See it way over there?"

Me, on the paddle board, "Where?"  (Walk?  Over all that muck?  Oysters?)  "Oh, way over there in the horizon?"  (Warning objects are farther than they appear)

We hit the shore and immediately are knee deep in muck.  Jeff pulls his foot out of the muck and has lost his shoe.  Erik immediately puts Emma on his shoulders and steps into the muck.

We start walking, Maria jumped, "I just stepped on something really big that moved."

Emma looks at me, holds out her sweet little hands and quietly says, "Help me....."

I'm thinking that I am smart to have my river shoes on until my foot comes out of the muck minus the shoe.  Now I have to dig in the goo for my shoe!  I get it back put it on and some unfortunate snail gets stuck under my arch.  (We're really walking through this crap all the way over to there?)

We decide to try and get around to the dry horse trail, walk the trail to another mucky part which takes Jeff's flip flops, Erik's flip flops and adds more snail to my shoes.  Emma has this look on her face as her Dad sinks into the mud, not terror, just a "Is this a good idea" type look.  (I'm with you Emma.)

We finally find a path to the beach and as we start walking normally, husband jumps about ten feet into the air.

"What!"  I almost jump with him.

"I almost stepped on a crab," he points.  We both go over and look as poor Jimmy, pissed over a  little coitus interruptus with Shirley in the marsh.  (Sorry crab dude, we're just trying to get to the beach.  Atleast someone is getting some)


We are walking, birds are flying over us wondering who these random humans are in their uncharted territory.  I'm thinking, "First rule of survival, find potable water, then food, then shelter."  I look around.

We're screwed.

The beach is amazing!  There's miles of sand, not a soul on the beach.  We're finding conchs, hermit crabs, and the biggest scallop shells I've ever seen!  Emma is walking behind me in the water, much happier.  Jeff and Erik are talking conch recipes, while I am secretly saying, "Swim away little conchs don't become dinner!"  Emma enjoyed watching the conch spit ocean water as we picked them up, then letting them "be free" in the ocean.

The walk back was shorter, my husband the only one getting stuck in the muck, "Honey!  Don't come over here, it's a mine field!  I lost my shoe!"

Two perfect conch shells later, our pockets full of scallop shells, our memories full of laughter watching others look like little old men walking through muck, the fish biting our ankles and of course that sweet little voice saying, "Help me."

I got all excited about a HUGE conch shell sitting on the beach only to have to leave it to the hermit crab that called it home.

A few lessons learned on this trip:

I am better at paddle boarding that I thought.
It hurts to have a snail in your shoe.
Sometimes a little child can voice what you are thinking.
It really is cool to still that little voice in your head and just for for the adventure.

And, sometimes three hour tours are worth while!


So the next time you are listening to people mention what would be a cool little adventure, and that little voice starts in your head telling you every reason it is a bad idea?

Don't listen to it.

You may find something amazing.

WTF - What is that wall of water?

 As some of my Facebook friends may know, I'm spend a few days of R&R (drinking) on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina.  I'm lucky that I have friends (family) with boats and planes and things I can use.  Today, we took our crew to Shackleford Banks for some time on the beach.

Shackleford Banks is an island only accessible by boat, with wild ponies, and beaches that boast of shallow water - the perfect spot where we can settle with 8 children and not freak out all day long.

A few tips for a big party at the beach:
Wienies roast very well in foil on a skim board sitting in the sun.  (get your mind out of the gutter)
Never put the New Mom in charge of the beverages.  (Who put all these juice boxes in my cooler and where is the beer?
When someone says sit on a boat, especially the captain.  You sit.  (Splash, enough said)
So we make it out to the beach, setup our compound (12 chairs, 6 coolers (one with beer) 15 hot dogs, 4 peanut and butter sandwiches, and 22 cracker snacks (if you don't know the term, google it, it's a Southern thang, 2 baby floats, 4 skin boards, one cast net, and a 5 gallon bucket (that's for the booty we expect to catch at the beach and haul home)

There's a saying down south, "It's all shit and giggle until the someone gets hurt."  In our case it was, "It's all shit and giggles until the storm rolls in."

We're lounging in the chairs, relaxing when someone quietly says, "What's that over there?"

We look.  Funny, the town we usually see is missing in a mist, or is that rain?

Some of us slowly get up, (we don't want to stress the children), "Should we start packing up?"

The Captain looks at the mist, stands up, handing a baby to a passing adult, "Let me check the radar."

It goes from slowly moving things into the boat, to a Keystone Cops type freeforall as we start running from beach to boat.  You'd be amazed at how things seem to multiply when you've unpacked them on the beach.  Where is my phone!  What happened to my towels?  Who shoved this open can of sardines in my bag?

We make it into the boat as the heavens open up, the boat moving quickly, everyone in saying, "OWW," from the pelting rain.  What do the matriarchs in the boat do?  Sit in the back with the glasses of wine, a towel over our heads, laughing.  Why?  Because the kids haven't figured out that you won't get pelted so bad with rain in the back of the boat.  Ha ha, have a sip of wine, hide under the towel.

We make it back to the house with the sounds of thunder in the distance, and not a single child complained about the cold pelting rain of the ride, they complained about the cold of the air conditioner once they made it inside the house!

So whenever you plan the perfect family beach day, remember to always include your WTF moment whether it be crap in the ocean, or rain on the ride back, or the smack of the cold of the air conditioner once you arrive home!

Life's a Beach - Would you like Tomato with that SANDwich?

I am a mountain girl.  Give me cooler weather, less humidity and specifically NO SAND.  I swear, sand can get everywhere at the beach.  Here's a few facts about sands:

If your baby has chubby rolls on their body, the sand becomes like glue, no amount of bathing will get the sand out of these crevices.

For some reason, babies are the only human beings on this planet that think sand tastes good.

There is always that kid at the beach that thinks it is cool feeding the sea gulls, and that child is directly in front of you----meaning, all the sea gull butts are pointed in your direction as they fight for that Frito.

There is a direct correlation between the amount of wind at the beach and how many kids with flip flops walk by your blanket.

There is another direct correlation between how much you don't feel like getting in the water and kids with sandy feet walking across your blanket.

Always, remember to applaud the lifeguard with everyone else at the beach when you child is saved, better yet make sure you hand your beer to your friend before you get up and run to the water's edge.

If you leave your chair unprotected, even for a few seconds, someone with a sopping wet bathing suit will plop their butt into your chair and soak it.

Remember that kid in front of you feeding the sea gulls?  That's the same kid that picks up his sand filled towel and times his shaking it with the huge gust of wind.

It is usually your child that throws off the pound of sand from their towel directly into the face of the person downwind from you - it is your job to act as if nothing happened.

Having wind at the beach helped us come up with some new terms for sand:

Sandbar - the swimming sand in the bottom of your cooler, that gets into your beer.

Cheese Sandoodling - the sound of that crunch of the cheese doodle covered with sand.

Sandoo - this is a new type of hair sculpting done usually at the beach with wind and sand.

SANDwich - down South - a tomato, mayonnaise, white bread with a healthy dose of wind sand.

Sand Castle - that family that has to hit the beach at 436am to build their compound complete with the 200 dollar tent that no one is sitting under.

Sandfoliate - the act of exfoliating your skin while applying suntan lotion at the beach.

Sandpaper - no not the cheap roll someone bought at the dollar store, but the pages of your book once a big gust of wind blows through.

Most fun a Mom can have at the beach - when she is ALONE!

Happy Summer Days.

Crab Eating Etiquette

Now us Marylanders know how to eat some crabs.  And bringing my Southern friends to a crab feast made me think about crab eating etiquette (there is a really bad joke behind this but I'll keep it clean today) because they broke the first rule of crab eating:


You do not interrupt anyone when they are right in the middle of pulling out a huge chuck of back fin (white meat) with a question.  Especially, "Why do you eat these things?"

A person's vinegar/butter/Old Bay dipping ramekin is their personal property.  We do not share this because we are spending a time double dipping with each delicious find.  If that gives you the heebies with chips and dip, stay far away from the dish in front of a crab eater.

Do not beat the crab to death - AGAIN.  It is already dead, you do not have to kill it.

No, we do not give away our claws, they are our claws, and some usually save them to the end.  Do not ask, "Are those for me?"  Because they will be polite and say yes, then kick you out of the moving car LATER.

You can tell a newbie to eating crabs by how many paper towels they go through.  Great crab eaters wait until the end, lick off the Old Bay and THEN clean their hands.

Crabs do not talk when they are dead, do not pick them up and apologize to them before eating them.  Really, they can't hear you.

Do not believe a word we say, especially when interrupting us with questions, we'll answer like, "Sure, go ahead and eat the green stuff - it is the best part of the crab, all the minerals and sh*t."

Yes, we drink cheap beer, the cheaper the better (Natty Boh anyone) it just does not look right to take a small sip of Stella with Old Bay crusted fingers, leaving a reddish swipe down the bottle.  Now on a small cheap mug of Natty Boh - it looks perfect!  Don't look shocked when we lick the red swipe of old bay/crab grease from the side of the mug - it tastes great mixed with beer.

Do not use words like, "Ewww" or "Ugh" or "Yuck" when eating crabs - you will not be invited back.

Knives are for clearing guts out of crabs, not cutting your Caesar salad or buttering your bread, like condiments they are personal property until the crab eatin is done.

And finally, yes, your fingers will smell like Old Bay for the rest of the night - when you see crab eaters sniffing their fingers and smiling, they are simply reliving the experience.

And finally, do not get mad when we neglect to tell you to wash your hands before wiping your eyes/nose/other parts.  Everyone has to have that newbie Old Bay sting experience.  You'll laugh at the next one.

Anything missed Maryland friends?

Disclaimer:  If you came here looking for ways to get rid of your crabs, That Grey Area is not responsible for any bodily harm.  This page is intended for the crab eating crowd, not the crowd getting crowd....that's another post......later.

Smooth Criminals - NOT!

There are three things you need to know if life according to my Dad, a great martini, how to tie a tie and the perfect poker face.  Unfortunately, my children haven't learned a single one of them - especially the poker face.  When it comes to smooth criminals, well, let's just say they have their Mom's genes.

But let me back up.

It all started with a dolphin.  In a garage.

Yep.

I was walking to my car when a nice non serial killer looking family asked me if I liked dolphins.

"Why, yes, one of the girls staying with us loves dolphins," I replied.

"We won one at the boardwalk, would you like it," Non serial killer Dad asked.

"Sure," I replied.

They opened their trunk and sitting there was a 6 foot stuffed dolphin along with a very sad non serial killer looking kid saying, "I won it, but it doesn't fit."

What could I say?  WTF, where am I going to put that.

The devil in me thought, "Oh this is great.  I'll give it to Abby then laugh all the way to Beaufort watching Maria trying to fit the damn thing everywhere."

I took the dolphin.  And that's where the adventure begins.

The dolphin made it up to our beach condo, the dolphin was claimed by my son (WHAT?) and they played with the dolphin.  The dolphin didn't make it ten minutes before he suffered a mortal wound to the side, tiny little white balls (my kids laugh here) oozing from the cut.

Did I tell you that the stuffing of cheap stuffed animals is this tiny little balls, but they are like the glitter of a Mom's World.  They get out and get everywhere and you are finding them years later in places you never imagined.  Well, when our dolphin suffered his mortal wound, I immediately told the kids to take him down to the dumpster and get rid of him gangsta style.

Fast forward, I am sitting out on my back balcony, 4 floors up with Maria and I look out.  "Well look, it looks like it is snowing."

We both watch the white travel up in the wind (there is a nice steady 30 MPH wind at the beach) and it gets a little thicker coming up on the balcony.  It takes me a second because my mind is thinking glitter before I realize

"It's the stuffing of the dolphin!"  I run over and look over the balcony and there is my son taking the dolphin to the dumpster (ok, maybe he's riding the dolphin like a bronco to the dumpster, the stuffing pouring out the side of the poor thing)  The white stuffing is being picked up by the wind and swept up the side of the building onto balconies, into my hair.  I

It gets worse when he tries to stuff the dolphin into the small dumpster, it obviously doesn't fit, but spews more stuffing everywhere.  Many are looking over their balconies, a few drunk college kids yelling, "It's snowing at the beach!"

Here's where our kids would make terrible criminals.  Abby comes running into the condo, through the screen and all to tell us that the boys are getting that stuff everywhere.  Both boys come running in saying their heard maintenance on the phone about the mess, what do we do?

What should I do?  I should make them go down to maintenance and apologize for the mess, explaining that the dolphin was going to the dumpster - indicated by the path of white stuffing in the elevator down to the lobby, through the front doors, along the front of the building, down the side and into the dumpster.

No, I tell them to sweep all the stuffing from our front door down to unit 418 while I vacuum up everything in the condo.

So they worry that they'll get arrested.  I play it up saying that a MD number just called my phone, which actually gets them to clean the condo a little bit better.

And if security or maintenance was unsure about which condo the stuffing came from, I tried to pin it on the group of college kids in 118 looking over the balcony saying, "It's snowing."  But I'm sure it's obvious in the scared faces from 4 kids looking very guilty over the railing as they watched maintenance clean up their crime.

A good martini, tie a great tie, and learn a good poker face.

We've got a little work to do.

Wednesday Word of the Day - Sand Rash

New word learned at the beach:

Sand Rash - pronunciation (saaannndd rahsh alternative pronunciation "Owww!")

Definition Please:

A large area of skin that comes in contact with the bottom of the ocean due riding a large wave which then takes you and slams you on the bottom pulling you along to shore taking out everything in your path - kids, sand toys, chairs, bathing suits.  Skin runs along the sand, scraping off the old epidermis revealing new softer skin which then turns pink and burns, usually turning into a nice dark scar from the sun as it heals.

(Ladies do not do this for a free facial, sand rash is not all covering your face could turn blotchy.)

Also caused from heated beach volleyball match, running too fast to chase children, or trying to look like Bo Derek in the sand.

Can you use that in a sentence please?

"Oh my gosh, took out a kid, lost my bathing suit top but will you look at the sand rash from that one?  Man, that hurts."

Sand Rash -

Zombie Children Attack!

We were having such a great time on the beach when little did we know that there were Zombie Children, hidden in the sand dunes, waiting for just the right moment to attack!  And no, we don't know these people but couldn't help but snap a few picks to show the Zombie proof!  I didn't see any chewed limbs by these children but am sure that's what the hole is for.

Seriously, I understand that sun protection is a good thing, but at 3pm in the afternoon do you have to make your entire family look like Zombies?  We also nicknamed them the Casper family.

My son walked by these kids looked over and jumped back in fear, their white faces turned to him, their eyes vacant and their lips limp from all the Capri Suns their parents kept giving them.  He'd heard about the Zombie attacks in Florida and came over to ask me if there were Zombie's in Maryland.

Then when the photographer comes to take pictures of the family for keepsakes, do the parents wipe the 2inch layer of white paste off of their faces?  No, once a Zombie always a Zombie.

So beware now when you hit the beach, Zombies are everywhere and can come at any age!

Going to the beach...don't leave without....

Going to the beach with my family has taught me a few valuable lessons prior to school letting out and summer beginning:

1.  Sand is evil.  It has this power, I call it the crotcrakmiserwear power, the ability to find the one place that would annoy you and working it's way in there.  Here are a few example:
In the hinge of my glasses, so every time I open them it crunches.
In my beverage/food/mouth so I can hear the crunch between my teeth.
Inside my bathing suit just as I go for a long walk and feel every inch of it.
On the lollipop BEFORE the child even gets first lick - I just take lollipops and roll them in the sand then say, "Here honey, let's just get this out of the way."

2.  It is very easy to skip your mortgage when at the beach.
It starts with the trip to the grocery store for every snack food you can imagine without any nutritional value.
You then spend a fortune in the souvenir shop so you don't have to buy them a LIVE hermit crab to bring home.
There's not one, but many trips to the arcade and each involves lots of money, money for THE CLAW, the one game that has taught too many children the agony of defeat.  With THE CLAW is the DRAW, if they hit it big, there's a iPod Touch they could win!  Children will result to digging through the couches to satisfy their claw addiction.

3.  Food at the beach has no calories, especially those that are good for you like - French Fries, Funnel Cake, Ice Cream, Candy, and especially Caramel Popcorn - when followed by a Diet Coke.

4.  Everything will stay perpetually wet at the beach - your bathing suit, your towels, your clothes, toilet paper, coffee filters and especially

5.  There is no way to look sexy running - Bo Derek was a fluke, probably because they filmed her in slow motion so she didn't fall all over the place when her feet hit the sand.  When you do fall in the sand, it's usually with that lollipop in hand.

6.  If you want to feel better about yourself - go to the boardwalk.  Your choice of bathing suit is so much better than 400 lb men in Speedos and women in thongs where their butt cheecks eat up the butt floss.  If they are not walking in bathing suits, they are in too short shorts, too tight T-shirts, and usually holding the extra size bucket of French Fries.  Feel better about your self and go on a diet all at the same time.

7.  Thinking about a tattoo - go to the boardwalk - best deterrent out there.  The 70 year old female in the thong with the tattoo of Free Bird from the 60's that now looks like a Turkey Vulture on crack will make you think twice.

8.  You will look like shit at the beach, beach hair - that fully humidity, kinky, hard water shit you can't get a comb through will be the norm.  Want to feel better, go to the boardwalk and see that everyone else is in the same predicament, some worse than yours.

9.  The pirates had it right - the only way to survive the beach - the sand, the boardwalk, the mini golf, the food is with rum.

What have you learned at the beach/

The poor crab....

Poor crab, moseying along on top of the female crab (if you know what I mean) when down comes this big green net and he's plucked out of the water!

Three kids, and one dog stare at him...his pinchers go up because he's pissed! Interrupted and now sitting in a small trash can with two other little crabs looking at him like, "Yeah, got us too...doesn't this suck?" He'll get his revenge, just wait....

The dogs sniffs the can, the kids think of him as a pet, "We'll name him Ocean, right?" "Or should be call him Blue?" Adults know that if they look the other way, he'll be called "dinner." The crab waits.....

"See this one? It's a crab...." The finger comes a little close and he waits patiently for his chance.....wait for it, wait for it.....

OUCH! He's flung up and out of the trash can back to the deck, and scurries with a plunk into the water. The kids look at one very red finger, "Oh well, he wanted to get back to his wife anyway."

Love it when they think the crabs have to be married to mate (doing my job, I guess) and he gets away as the youngest learns the lesson, don't poke any body part around angry blue crabs with pinchers!

He scurries around in the water, not noticing the green net sneaking up on him!!

Are you tubby or chubby or simply Jonah the whale?

There’s no better way to get to know a city than running a race through it. Want to do it cheaply, then simply plan a run along a route that travels the city. Today I ran through the streets of Ocean City and got to know the city in a whole new light. This city really appreciates the types of people visiting their fair city, it’s pretty evident in all the local businesses.

Are you hungry? Then they’ve got the goods for you! You can eat at some very nice all you can eat places called, Belly Busters, Chubbys, Tubbys, and Jonah the Whale. “Hey Earle, let’s do an all you can eat tonight, what’s the right one? I’m hungry. Chubby’s, now that’s the name of a place that will serve us well.” Of course if you are more part of the exclusive crowd, you can go with the ones that are code named, like the restaurant called, PGN – personally, I think this is code for “piggin” and they won’t let me in to find out. Just one glimpse of the clientele and I could find out if this is the “PGN” type. Not only will they fill your belly with all kinds of ribs, mac and cheese, and burgers for the “exclusive” conneusour, there’s the House of Chipped Beef with a wonderful sign on the front offers, “All you can eat chipped beef.” There was a line outside of the restaurant this morning, must be pretty good chipped beef.

If you’re not into the all you can eat, personally I don’t think I get my money’s worth on that one, you can then go to the fine dining establishments I passed on my way this morning. You can always stop at Hooters, which had a nice sign on the front that said, Special today – Fish Sandwiches, or you can go what I think is the more creatively named restaurant – Big Peckers. Get your mind out of the gutter, this is a chicken establishment – not choking but fried or grilled, whatever your choice. Who’s going to venture a guess at how many T-shirts they sell out of that restaurant. Finally there’s the wonderful Brass Ball Saloon, with another very apprapoe sign on their board, “We have crabs.” Would you need Brass Balls if you had crabs, that is the question you can answer with a visit to this restaurant.

If you are thinking of dieting, the clothing stores in Ocean City make you feel much better about your body. There’s the Coconuts Salon, selling just bathing suits to fit those just ripened to been on the tree way to long coconuts. If you don’t have the perfect body, you can always stop at 2 Dye 4 which has that great T-shirt of the perfect body to cover up what you got! Or you could always simply wear the Big Peckers T-shirt and call it a day.

If you get into trouble in Ocean City, there’s ABBA Bail Bonds for those that got carried away from the karaoke machine. The Anchor Bail Bonds for those trying to get out of town, and the 24/7 bail bonds for those that can’t see to tell the difference between night and day. Get into trouble with a middle aged man with a shotgun? You can always stop at Fidelity Bank and take out a loan to pay off the debt to her family or society.

Either way, there’s plenty for everyone here in Ocean City, we’re lucky it’s named appropriately because how would you know where to go? Any good business names you’ve seen in your travels?

Summer salt, sun and surprises!

It's morning and of course there’s only two people actually up and moving this early – me and the dog! After what felt like an eternity driving yesterday, it was nice to finally hit the beach. The Northern beaches that is. Ocean City reminds me of my grandmother, stuck a little back in time, showing a little worse for the wear but something you still love to come back to. It’s so much more crowded than the beaches of North Carolina we visit, and so much colder! Sure, the condo smells a little like feet, and I feel the urge to immediately go out to get pillows and Febreez, it's still a place I love.

The dog gave me that, “You’ve got to be kidding me” look when I was up at the crack of the dog and hauling her down to the “dog walk.” This is the only grassy area of the condominiums where a dog can relieve themselves and not get an electric shock from the building’s landscaper – just kidding. The dog walk is a fenced in square of brown grass with a very smelly trash can to the side of it. She is mad that I woke her then the look of joy at the Encyclopedia Britannica of dog smells in the area as she reads her doggy morning paper. I take her to the beach and she’s jumping because of the sand, then hiding between my feet at the roaring sound of the ocean. What a new and exciting experience for the puppy.

Me? I’m thinking, I signed up to swim in the ocean on Sunday so I decide to touch my toe to the water. Holy SHIT! This is freezing, haven’t we had a heat wave? The dog is next to me and touches the water then walks back to roll in the sand with a “you’re nuts, there’s no way I’m swimming in that.” She takes one lick and spits it out.

First day of summer vacation and it’s about being a kid again, walking around the complex remembering when I spent summers here, laughing about that weekly “falling in love” at the beach, only to say our “goodbyes” when the tourists had to leave on the Saturday morning. It’s about ocean sunrises from the back porch and bay sunsets from the front porch. It’s about my boys spending 5 dollars on the “claw” to try and win me the Ipod in there and coming back with just a (5 dollar) piece of candy. It’s about the first words out of their mouth not, “Wow look at the ocean” or “Thanks Mom for driving us here” but “When can we go to Candy Kitchen.” Ocean City, with Thrasher’s French Fries, Candy Kitchen, Dolle’s Popcorn and crabs by the bushel. Right now I’m not going to think about it being me SIGNING UP to freeze my ass off this weekend in a fitness challenge while my boys watch and laugh.

They’re sleeping, dreaming about spending a mortgage payment on the Claw while I plot and plan the day. Think I can keep them out of Candy Kitchen until past lunchtime?