Hello Blog Readers! This is Rob writing this time, first time in a while. Life has been so busy with Lydia! Playing man to man instead of zone is exhausting. Work has been busy too... So fortunately we were able to get away to Bethany Beach, DE for a week this June.
We had never been to Delaware before and decided to go there because it was closer than the Outer Banks. After the fiasco of the 11 hour pilgrimage last year, we tried everything to minimize travel time like going Friday to Friday to avoid a beach rush. Letting the van GPS pick the "preferred" route was not a great decision, however. It routed us around the DC beltway where we spent an hour in bumper to bumper dispite hitting the area at 1:00 pm. So the ~300 mile trip took seven long and harrowing hours and we arrived after the rental place was closed and had to get our keys out of the lock box.
We rented a house just off of the boardwalk that was rustic but had a nice layout. Usual beach stuff. House seemed to be built in the fifties. Here are some pictures:
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| kitchen |
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| kitchen |
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| den |
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| dining room |
The one unusual feature was that the upstairs bathroom door was barred shut when we got there. Not locked, it just was stuck at the bottom and couldn't be opened. It was odd and a little concerning: did the cleaning person pull a Lane Pryce in our beach house? The next day a maintenance man had to climb through a window - it turns out the access panel to the tub fell off and wedged against the door.
We turned in early the first night. Which was good. Because the kids seem to think the eastern shore is in a different time zone and wake up every year at 5:30 a.m. Only there was no Aunt Jerry to rise with the roosters.
We like to settle into a routine. Take the kids for a walk to get coffee and then hit the beach early. Bethany was great for walking. A nice coffee shop was 3 blocks away. We hit the beach at about 10:00 the first day. Lydia added a new wrinkle: an aggressively mobile speed demon that could not be trusted. We also took sand toys to the beach for the first time. The solution was for her to be tethered to one of us at all times.
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| Lydia with her tether and "tar" sand toy |
Naomi of course loves the beach and in vacations past we took the jumper:
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| Stone Harbor 2012 |
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| Method of transport Nags Head 2013 |
She was very content to be on the beach laying on a towel
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| Cheesy grin |
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| Bear |
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| Wound up bear |
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| Still wound up |
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| Not as wound up |
So most days we spent time at the beach from 10:00 until about 12:00 when Lydia went down for her nap. The first day our friends Bill and Sarah joined us. They have been on vacation with us almost every year for the last six: they are gluttons for punishment! This years special treat: Lydia running around at 7:00 am - dum dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum dum. Lydia did take a shine to "Uncle Biwl" They are great friends and very good with Naomi.
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| Lydia with her new pal |
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| Aunt Sarah |
That was pretty much the routine. One morning we went to the park. They had a really nice swing for Naomi.
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| Naomi in her swing. |
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| "wing" ing with Dad |
There was stretch out time with shows - especially on the day it was nearly 100 degrees. That was the day we went on a road trip to Rehobeth. We didn't last long.
There was lots of snuggling
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| Mommy and her girls |
Lydia tried on some accessories
And learned to drink from a straw
Naomi turned Bethany into a nearly nude beach
And of course Daddy and Naomi we sea lions for hours every day
Lydia chose to get up one morning at 5:15 and I took her to the parking lot across the street. She had a great time running around in her PJs and pointing and saying the letters.
Naomi's hair got blonde and she got tanner than kids are supposed to
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| Goldilocks |
Lydia got tan too- she climbed on the furniture
The week went fast like everything does. Finally, Lydia was tired on the way home.
Another vacation in the books. Here is the family picture. Total chaos just like you would expect.
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