Expanding Our Borders: Change of Scenery

I took the kids to the coast this weekend. My last long run was on Saturday (before my race) so we put our things together and loaded up and went on our way. I was grateful for such a beautiful clear day driving there and back. We were also so glad for clear weather on the coast although it was cool! Even though it is no small thing to pack up (even for one night, yes!!) it was well worth the quality time away I had with my kids.  Believe me, there was one point when I was asking myself, "Now, why did I think this was going to be a vacation to go to the coast by myself with the kids?!"

A couple of stories from the weekend:  Saturday evening after being at the ocean in our duds and the kids playing in the sand and such, we decided it was dinner time. I wanted seafood so I looked up some places on my phone. The one I chose was a fancy restaurant which I didn't know but it was rated high so I chose that one for good food.  We found the place and it was small and high class!  The lady asked if we had reservations and I said, "Errr, no! (as I looked at my kids & I in our duds!) She asked how many and incredulously looked at each one of the kids and I. She asked if we could squeeze around a small table and I said, "Sure!" Heads turned everywhere as my kids and I paraded through the restaurant to our table which just so happened to be right in the center of the room!! However, as much as I didn't enjoy the glances and stares our way, I was extremely proud of my kids. Each on of them! They used their manners, sat nicely, shared their food nicely (it was expensive)and used their quiet voices.

After getting back to our motel the kids wanted to go swimming so we changed and headed to the pool. Eden was a little high strung that night after such a good day and feeling a little excited at all the fun and different activities. Anyway, Treva saw her walking towards the deep end and Eden was too busy showing off her swimming tricks to notice (I was in the hot tub at the moment)and she looked at Treva but quickly disregarded her warnings. Pretty soon Treva was shouting for me, there was a lot of flailing in the water, and Katreese was able to right Eden before I needed to jump in after her! It was very scary for everyone.

All in all, though, it was a good experience!  To the kids and my delight, there was a fresh donut bakery across the street from our motel so the kids and I had fresh donuts on Sunday morning! YUM! Later in the day, the kids ran off their sugar high! (smile)