A Quick Trip to the Beach

We knew we would be living relatively close (a six hour drive) to The Beach during this, my husband's intern, year, so we planned to visit Southern California often. It has not been as easy as we thought it would. So, when he found out he could take a Friday off, (he is doing an elective this month with a private group of anesthesiologists), we decided that a quick trip to the beach was a necessity of sorts: Relaxation for us, and The Beach Experience (sand and waves) for the kids. So, we drove to San Diego over the weekend and spent two days on the beach.

It was so relaxing (for me) - even with four kids - especially after we accepted that our 9-month old would eat the sand, and actually didn't mind eating the sand. (It was terribly painful to watch, but we would have lasted only 3 minutes if either of us had minded.)

I relaxed, listened to the sound of the waves, and read a book while he continuously cleaned (by way of licking) each one of the seashells his older sister had found along the beach.

Yes, it really was that bad. But he was quite content.

Our 2-year old could not have been happier in this gigantic sandbox and sang and hummed happily as he dug and filled and dumped and observed.

At one point he started walking towards our umbrella and chairs, but got side-tracked and started b-lining it down the beach. I walked behind him at a distance but kept expecting him to start looking around, realizing he was alone, and see me. He didn't. So, yes, I had to run, in my bathing suite with my mommy-tummy and whiter-than-white thighs, in between and around lots of groups of people, in order to catch up with him. I may never forgive him for that.

My husband attempted multiple times to take a nap, read a book, and/or relax - to no avail; the kids knew that he was free game on vacation and demanded his full attention.

Our older kids loved the boogie-boarding (oops, my husband always corrects me, it's body boarding). The water was frigid, absolutely, but they didn't seem to mind. Luckily, it was warm - the weather was amazing.

As we drove home, my husband seemed completely worn out and kept recommending we bring a nanny with us the next time we visit. Vacations with four young children are definitely a lot of work, especially for the Dad, at least in our family.

The kids were also completely worn out.

It was really a lot of fun.