Live from Bethany Beach, DE

I'm on vacation. Things are going so amazingly well. I refuse to let stress or conflict invade this time of relaxation with my family. The flight was great, I drove to the beach with my mom Friday night and our kids have been very well behaved. We woke up Saturday morning and hit the sand and surf.

Nathan in the surf. 

My 7 year old, Nathan, can stand out neck deep in the crashing waves, jumping over them, swimming through them and riding on top of them for hours and hours straight. He hasn't quite mastered using a body board yet but he doesn't care. Alex sits at the waters edge and digs holes, occasionally running in up to his knees. I mostly sit and read my book (currently reading 7: An experimental mutiny against excess by Jen Hatmaker)  under the umbrella. It is all bliss.

Yesterday my sister's family drove in from Richmond, VA and my best friend from high school, Alexis, drove in from Annapolis. We had one huge, chaotic dinner at the beach house and then sat on the deck enjoying some wine till late in the evening.

Alexis and I.

The next morning I slept in till 7:00, not my intention, and Alexis and I headed out on what was supposed to be my long run of the week, six miles. Lex warned me that she would push me in the beginning, and she did, and it killed me much too early. Plus it was hotter and more humid than I'd expected and already plenty sunny by that hour of the morning. After a couple miles I just had no energy. She gave me one of her energy gels to try and it made me hurl. So after just under four miles we reached the house again and I gave up, feeling utterly defeated.

Emma Grace loves the beach.

Then we all hit the beach again. My one year old niece, Emma Grace, loves the sand and crawls all over it, not worried about sticking sand covered thumbs in her mouth. My six year year old niece is not a big fan of the sand or surf but my nephew embraced it when he saw how much fun my boys were having. We have the luxury of beachside pools at our resort complex so after we got sufficiently hot in the sand we hit the pool to cool off, then went back to the sand.

After showers and cocktails and another big family dinner we hit the boardwalk for ice cream and a live brass band.

My allergies went nutso and I turned it early which gave me enough energy for sunrise yoga class on the beach this morning. Sunrise beach yoga is my happy place. It's the best thing ever. I think I may do it again tomorrow. Or I may try running again. We'll see.

After sunrise yoga.