Labor Day Beach Vacation

Although I'm excited for fall, I'm in denial that summer vacation is over. This year was very different for a lot of reasons, but we actually had a great season. We enjoyed our country weeks, exploring local towns, and starting to go on hikes as a family. We ate well, played in the pool, and read a lot! 

But what we really missed was a beach vacation (#Firstworldproblems). We were so lucky to be able to go on a last-minute vacation to Bethany Beach courtesy of our neighbors Marcus and Dani. Their family owns a beach house that gets a ton of use all summer, but they so generously found a few days for us to visit.

The house is only a few hours away, so it was an easy trip. We planned to keep physically distancing while there, so we packed food for us to take to the beach and to eat at home in the evenings. It was actually really nice to pack picnic lunches and to come home to eat burgers. 

We did eat out one night at a restaurant called Off the Hook; the food was great! Really fresh fish and veggies. And, no trip to the beach is complete without ice cream. If you know us at all, you know we follow "Rome Rules," whereby we eat as much ice cream as we want while on vacation. We had ice cream each day at a different location. They were all delicious, but the chocolate peanut butter on the beach was my favorite. Dan's favorite was the rocky road from Vanderwende's.

The house was perfect for us. It was built in a way that created two wings. The kids slept on one side of the house and we were on the other. Zahara slept in a really cool "secret" room that she accessed by way of these steep stairs. And there were so many spaces for hanging out. I really loved the screened in patio and the outdoor shower!

The beach itself was lovely. It was a five minute walk from the house and was exclusively for the neighborhood residents. We had plenty of room to spread out and play. The waves were very rough and large, so we didn't do a ton of swimming, but the kids liked holding on to us while we braved the waves. 

Since we went over Labor Day, Zahara was off school on that Monday. But she had virtual school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday she did a good job attending her classes and doing her work while Dan and I took turns with Asher at the beach. The four of us joined up after her class for some beach time and ice cream (of course).

Wednesday it actually rained all day, so we stayed in and played games and cleaned the house while Zahara was in school. We headed home after her last class and made it home in time for dinner.

I can't tell you how refreshed I feel after that quick trip. It was a great change of scenery, and the house was everything we could have asked for. Thank you again, Dani and Marcus!