Beach Blessings

We're at the beach!!!  In honor of a South Myrtle break from the norm, here's a list of special beach blessings from the week so far:

1.  Lovely weather.  An occasional brief thunderstorm, but nothing that has kept us from the beach or the pool, both of which are dearly loved by our Elder One.  The Younger One is a bit more skittish, but finally enjoyed the pool last night.  He enjoys the beach sand, but still runs away from the water!

2.  Mid-week calm.  The crowds were nuts on Monday but haven't been so bad mid-week.  And we go out early enough that we get some relaxing time before the Sun-lovers emerge. 

3.  No cooking!  Well, not much.  We cook some breakfast food and an occasional meal, but mostly we survive on sandwiches and dining out, which is such a great break for me.  I get so tired of trying to decide what's for dinner.

4.  Fried oysters!  And the price hasn't gone up yet, much to our surprise.  Eating them actually makes me a little sad, thinking about how much is being destroyed in the Gulf.  But I still love them.

5.  Fun with family.  Our yearly beach vacation is always with my family.  My very generous parents have time shares they let us use.  So each family (us, bro & fam, parents) has their own space, but also time to be together, which is pretty much the only time we're all together.  I'm sad for my kids that they don't get to grow up with their cousins the way that I was able to, but they have a blast the rare times they're together.  It's been fun to watch their sweet silliness.  It's great that all 4 of them are within a few years of each other.

6.  Rest.  We're not high-activity vacationers, so our days aren't frenetic.  Typically, we go to the beach in the morning, rest in the afternoon, get dinner and then hit the pool in the evening.  Though we're staying south of Myrtle, we never actually go into Myrtle.  Vacations with small ones are never completely relaxing, but we're also not exhausted by our week off.  It works for us.  And we get cable!  This is a particular treat.  Right now we're watching Top Chef!   I find this show fascinating, but I have to mute it occasionally when it gets too tense :).