The Family on Holiday

Being the mountain dwellers that we are, we rarely get to a beach of any sort, much less one with salt water. That, and the fact that Sam hates the beach. I think the last time we were at the ocean was November, 2000. And I was 8.5 months pregnant with Luke. Sad, isn't it? That also means that Luke and Micah have never had the joys of sand in their underpants coupled with saltwater on their tongue.



We rememdied that oversight on our part over the weekend. We have friends in Delaware and headed to the coast to visit them. Since they have 5 kids, we were concerned how our 4 would mesh with them and planned just 2.5 days of togetherness. I mean, 9 kids in one house is just asking for all kinds of interestingness to take place. And that's putting it as kindly as I can.



(But for the record, those 9 kids never once had an altercation of any sort. Not a raised word, not a raised fist, nary a reason for parental intervention. We consider this a miracle of the major sort. And plan to go back to see if we can experience this again.)



So on Friday we headed to the sandy beaches of Delaware. We consider it ocean despite that it's really a bay. Remember, to us inlanders anything with salty water is considered ocean. Even the Great Lakes.



Becky was terrified of sharks infesting the waters and just waiting for her white flesh to step in before feasting, so she sat where the water meets the sand and combed for shells. She found some really cool ones which Micah promptly dumped back into the ocean. She was not amused with her brother.





Josh waded out up to his chin (maybe even his lower lip) before we told him to get the heck back to dry land so we could lecture him about a little thing called undertow that would drag him out to sea quicker than we could go rescue him. (Why yes, we are the mountaineers on holiday. I'm sure the locals got great amusement from us.)



Luke was afraid that the water would rip off what was left of his waving toenail and refused to step into the surf. I could tell by his cries of pain that it wasn't pain at all and reminded him that there's a difference between pain and feeling weird. It was the latter and didn't hurt at all. After that he gingerly limped into the water (there were no crashing waves) and had a great time before combing the beaches for shells. The boy lives for fascinating rocks and such. He also found some cool ones, but to Luke a white one is cool, a yellow one is cool, a flat one is cool...





Micah was not amused at the water lapping at his feet when he did nothing to anger it. We drug him in kicking and screaming, he got a mouth full of sea water and decided that he could not be forced to live with such a family ever again. This scenario lasted for maybe 20 minutes. After that Luke was able to declare frequently "Mom, Micah is headed out to sea!" (This became my favorite quote from the weekend.) The boy loves water, what can we say?





My swimsuit plunged just a tad lower than any shirt that I own and flesh that had never seen sun before is now crispy and deep fried. There's nothing quite like burned boobies, let me tell you. There are no pictures of this, sorry. It's for your own good. But I'll share this for your viewing pleasure instead.

25 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the no picture of your boobs. :) Love the farmer tan feet though :)

Suburban Correspondent said...

Delaware! Too far north to worry about sharks...

Anonymous said...

Hmm . . . should you happen to wander anywhere near a store in the next couple of days I think it might be in your best interest to pick up a new razor (or two.) Unless those are Sam's legs, in which case the hair is acceptable . . . but not sexy, so ante up with the boob shot.

I almost didn't recognize Micah with shorts on . . . how big of a fight was that?!

And yeah for a little time out-of-town and for 9 kids getting along the whole weekend . . . did you snap a picture of the pigs that were flying overhead?

Anonymous said...

Burn boobies are not so fun. :-(

Glad you guys had a blast. Lovely when you can find another big family and the kids can mesh... and both sets of parents are used to the pandamonium!

Karen MEG said...

Ouch on the boobies!

Looks like the family had such a wonderful time at the beach, though! Your kids are so adorable, all of them!

CanadianMama said...

Looks like a great time - hopefully those boobs will recover soon!

Michelle said...

Wow, what fun! And definitely a miracle that with 9 children there were no altercations. Good to see Micah remembered the swim trunks rules.

How much have the kids begged to go back?

Cecily R said...

Fabulous pictures Karen!! I LOVE the one of Luke looking for shells. For some reason pics like that are usually my favs in the bunch.

Sorry about your lobster boobs.

Leanne said...

I got burned boobies this weekend too! Who was it that said cleavage was good? I now have green boobies, from the burn guk, and I tell you, these hurt!

Glowstars said...

I did that one too - blistered because they're so burnt boobies is not a good look.
Take care of them till they heal up.

Pam said...

what great pictures! I'm glad you had a good time. I love the beach....now I want to go back again.

Anglophile Football Fanatic said...

Is it wrong for me to say I didn't know Delaware had beaches? I so wish I were home right now. I love watching the shots of the hurricanes coming in off the water.

Caution/Lisa said...

I guess I really don't know where Delaware is. How have I missed an entire state??

AutoSysGene said...

Looks like a fun time was had by all!

caramama said...

We were at the Delaware beaches earlier this year (but oceanside). I love the beach!

I hope the kids enjoyed it. It sounds like they did. And Micah even enjoyed it with swim trunks on? Will miracles never cease!

Sorry about the boobs!

calicobebop said...

Great pictures!! Looks like a lot of fun!

Burgh Baby said...

I love how bored of it all Becky looks in the second photo. It's a teen-aged "I'm too cool, or am I?" pose that she's got going on.

Glad y'all had fun and that nobody was injured, maimed, or lost along the way!

Marmarbug said...

OUCH! You burned your ta-tas!!! I KNOW that hurt.
And I live the quote from the weekend. Your kids are adorable!

ALF said...

I grew up 2 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and spent every summer day there. I miss it sooo much! The lake just isn't the same.

Kidzmama said...

I love the pictures of Becky. So aloof! I grew up in Jersey and spent the better half of my high school weekends bumming on the beach. That's the life.

Can I even explain how jealous I am of your weekend? You'll understand after reading about my disasterous attempt at leaving the homefront. I'm glad everyone had a good time.

Wineplz said...

burned boobies? sunblock, baby! I literally coat every square inch of my skin before putting on my swimsuit so that if it hikes up, falls down, scoots over, no surprise burn.

and I'm jealous you were at the beach...I sure miss it!

Maria (also Bia) said...

Yes, it's hot, and sticky, and you get sand all over the place, and I know about those sunburns...but we still go back to the beach one or two times each summer. In fact, with the boys starting school again on Monday, we're planning one more weekend beach trip (we're leaving this Thursday).

Your photos are lovely and I can tell you had a great time.

Irene said...

Super photos! Sounds like an incredible weekend!

Andrea said...

I am glad you all got to have a great get away! I am like you, any body of water that is salty is concidered OCEAN!! My kids love the beach. I hate all that sand and yucky stuff that swims in the ocean. I am weird.
I love the picture of Micah with his tounge out!! Too cute! What did you do with all the dogs when you left?

imbeingheldhostage said...

So does this mean you're going to try for 5 more children (if 9 seems to be the magic number)? The beach looks way to fun-- despite toenails and sharks.