Going to the Beach (Lara Style)

1.  Tell the kids for weeks in advance that we'll figure out somewhere fun to go during our week long Spring Break.

2.  Let Monday-Thursday of Spring Break go by without making any plans and filling the time with  playdates, school projects, the playground, and one day trip.

  A song about a "straight A nerd", a chicken, and slope intercept form all set to "Don't Stop Believin'" will earn Cami extra credit in algebra, but ended up taking up an entire day of our Spring Break to host her group. 

3.  In desperation on Friday morning (that Glen has taken off work), waffle back and forth between 3 possible places we can still pull off that last minute....  Philadelphia, Assateague Island, or Baltimore. 

4.  Since it's 80° and sunny we finally choose to go camping on the beach at Assateague Island

5.  Start packing camping supplies,  etc.

6.  Have a PMS induced meltdown when we realize that the campgrounds don't accept reservations this early in the year.   

7.  Get a hotel reservation and tell the disappointed kids to put away their warm camping clothes and pack tshirts, shorts, and swimsuits.  

8.  Finally roll out of the house mid-afternoon and get caught in beltway traffic.

9.  Arrive to Assateague Island after a 4-hour car ride and see the Campground FULL signs and resist yelling, "I told you so," at the whole family.

10.  Get out of the car and realize that it's it at least 30° cooler than it was when we left DC.

11.  Take lots of pictures of shivering kids in the beautiful setting sun and realize that we have no plans whatsoever for our time at the freezing beach. 

12.  Eat dinner at 8:30.

13.  Go to the hotel and relish in the fact that we're sleeping in a warm bed instead of on the lumpy ground.

14.  Wake up, drive to Ocean City and realize that it's about 45° and windy as heck.

15.  Go back to the car and fish out coats, jackets, and hats for every member of the family.  Thank heavens I hadn't done my twice yearly car cleaning lately.

16.   Go with the flow, buy a couple kites, and take advantage of the brisk wind.

 my husband is a manly man who didn't need to stoop to wearing winter attire on the beach

17.  Spend the next few hours flying kites, digging/laying in the sand, and collecting sea shells.

trying to keep warm

18.  Grab a quick lunch and head back home just in time for Glen and Spencer to head to the Priesthood session and me to grocery shop for my still unplanned Easter dinner.

 We always have something citrus-y for dessert on Easter (usually lemon meringue pie), but Cami ended up making this amazing citrus cheesecake for us this year.  Yum-o-licious!

19.  Subject my friends to a long-winded, rambling account of how disorganized I really am.

20.  Then subject those same friends to 47,000 pictures of my family at the beach...

Spencer was trying so hard to suppress a smile in all the pictures.  Fact was, he was laughing hysterically 2 seconds after this picture was taken. 

I don't know where all of Assateague's wild horses were hiding, but we only saw a couple while we were there.

Strict sea shell limits were implemented to ensure that we didn't have to buy a trailer to take them all home in. 

Kite flying was exciting for about 5-minutes. 

Ellie face-planted it right into the frigid water at Assateague Island.  She was really mad at me for taking a picture of her in her misery, but she so rarely gets upset about anything, I thought it was cute.  

I wish I looked this cute in the whipping wind and fog.

The world's most frazzle headed woman (and her patient husband)

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