Running Away

As I was driving to swim practice in the 90+ degree heat Friday morning, I heard this on the radio, "Our entire listening area is under an extreme heat advisory except for the Ocean Front and the Eastern Shore".  At that moment I decided we needed to run away from the 115+ degree heat indices and we loaded up for Chincoteague the moment we got home (and the girls got out of the shower).

The plan had been to go for the day and see if we could find a spot for the night.  Well, we found a spot for TWO nights(!) and took full advantage.  We played on the beach Friday afternoon and again Saturday morning (my mama always told me to avoid the sun's rays between 10 and 2 and I have tried to live that rule).  While Ellie napped Saturday afternoon (more on the sleeping arrangements in a moment), B took Lil to the Assateague Island Visitors' Center. 

From what I hear she had a blast and even volunteered during the snapping turtle show.  She came back to the room with a giant button ("badge"), some tattoos (two to share with Beanie) and a blue goose she was given for volunteering.  Pretty neat stuff.

They also cruised on over to the lighthouse.  There was a local artist there with her watercolors and B said both he and Bitty enjoyed them.

(While I did remember to bring my little camera with me, I failed to take it out so all the photos are with my phone, meaning the image quality isn't the best.  Sorry!)

B and Lil returned to the room and Lil and I cruised over to the fun tourist/gift shop I found when B and I were there in May.  Lil was thrilled to pick up an anklet, ring and sunglasses, which were purchased with her own monies. ;o) She was VERY pleased with herself. :o)

We had a lovely dinner and then went to collect shells by walking up the beach and returned in time to get Bean to bed...which brings us to the sleeping arrangements.  We found a little one bedroom efficiency that had had a last minute cancellation so the four of us were in a room with two full beds.  B and Lil had one, Beanie and I the other (since I failed to load the pack n play into the van...).  Miss Ellie has never slept in a "real" bed and I'm afraid the freedom went to her head.  Oh my.  She kept slipping out of bed to talk to us and finally went to sleep around 10:30 Friday night.  Additionally, Lil's never had to share a room so we had to discuss room-sharing etiquette after she awoke everyone Saturday morning.  :oS 

Saturday afternoon I figured I would just close the door on the room and the "napping" El and see what happened.  That did the trick.  Miss Bean stayed in bed and got about an hour nap.  No, not her usual power nap, but it was enough to refresh her so I was good with it.  Saturday evening we tucked her in and closed the door.  Lil stayed up with B and me and we played Uno until bedtime.  :o)  Good times, I tell ya, good times. :o) 

I'm now incredibly anxious to go for a week as there is so much to do there.  There are trails to explore, beaches to play on, ponies to look for, museums to visit, and more! The girls both loved the beach and I'm fairly certain were sad to leave this morning.  Well, Ellie was at least.  Lil's such a homebody she was overjoyed to simply be home. ;o) 

Ellie is such a wild child in the water.  We had to make sure we had at least one hand on her at all times near the water as she would go racing into it headfirst and meet it with her mouth wide open.  Gah!!  She would crawl towards the surf and roll around in it, no worries about the undertow back out into the ocean.  Be still my panicking heart!! I took her out past the breakers with me so we could jump the waves for a bit and she loved it.  Boy howdy is she a water baby. 

Meanwhile, after much cajoling, B was able to convince Bitty to let him carry her out past the breakers as well.  Once she overcame her anxiety and terror (it was there in spades) she thoroughly enjoyed herself as well.  In fact, she and B stayed out long after Beanie and I had returned to shore to dig holes once more.  :o)

Because there were so many photos to share, I created a slideshow:


We did lots and lots of hole digging.  There was also quite a bit of seashell gathering.  I find six and two year olds to be rather indiscriminate when it comes to collecting shells.  Did it at one time belong to a piece of a creature home?  It did?  Great, toss it in the bucket!

It was a wonderful spur of the moment weekend.  It may be hot at the beach, but with that lovely breeze off the ocean, you don't feel it.  I swear, I could have stayed there the rest of the summer. :o) 

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Sparklies:

1.  Everything up there!
2.  Great neighbors who were more than willing to help out with the animals so we could go.  Thanks, Bev and crew!
3.  Produce stands on the way home.  We stopped and picked up two cantaloupes, a pound of peaches and six tomatoes.  BLTs for supper! :o)
4. Look what was sitting on the garage awaiting our return:

Talk about fat and happy!  Actually, how he stood being in that heat I'll never know.
5.  Being able to get away so spur of the moment and having a husband willing to roll with me making such fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants decisions. 
6.  The girls being willing to just roll with it this weekend as well. 

No milestones.