Last week we found ourselves singing the opening line of the song Starships—“Let’s go to the beach, each, let’s go get away”—because we actually went to the beach. It was our annual family vacation to Bethany Beach on the Delaware coast, a week we spend with relatives every summer. This year the trip coincided with our fifth wedding anniversary, so between sandcastles and family dinners we sprinkled in small celebrations to mark half a decade of marriage.
We start every anniversary by taking a family portrait, and this year was no exception. We snapped the photos at home before the five-hour drive—smart move, since traveling with a toddler and a dog can quickly put everyone in less-than-photogenic moods. The shot we chose for our wall was the most natural one: everyone was laughing, and the vertical crop worked perfectly for the frame we use for our annual anniversary photos.
Packing and the drive took up most of July 7th, but we weren’t worried—an entire week at the beach lay ahead. The week before the trip had been a blur of project work; we try to double up on chores so we can keep the blog updated while we’re away and avoid coming home to a massive to-do list. I did surprise Sherry with a quick stop at one of her favorite roadside shopping spots in Maryland—the sort of place where you can find unexpected treasures. She found a giant basket that she plans to turn into a hanging light, and she was thrilled to spot it amid the chaos of the warehouse.
Our only physical anniversary gift to each other was small but meaningful: a painted wooden whale sign from a shop in Rehoboth Beach. It felt fitting since wood is the traditional fifth-anniversary material, and we’re actually building a wood deck right now. It also reminded us of our non-physical gift to each other this year: our trip to Hawaii, where we went whale watching with Clara.
We kept the blog running while we were on vacation—call it a working vacation—since we had already taken time off in March for our trip to Hawaii. That said, we still found plenty of downtime to enjoy classic beach activities. Sherry spent an afternoon approving comments from a lounge chair, and I couldn’t help admiring the machinery some folks used to add new “No Smoking” signs to the sand. Beach life always has its small, amusing moments.
Clara was the real beach MVP. She loved jumping off boogie boards onto dry sand for hours and made friends with cousins and neighborhood kids. We were traveling with a big group—my parents, two sisters, a brother-in-law, a niece and nephews, cousins and their kids, and two dogs—so the week was lively and full of kid-powered energy. Having four kids under four in the mix made things a little chaotic at times, but mostly it added to the fun.
Early in the trip we used the rental pool a lot, which made sense since we were also working around Clara’s nap schedule. The baby pool was often empty, giving Clara and her entourage of Barbie dolls plenty of room to play. She’s currently in a phase where she doesn’t like water over her head, so most of her pool time involved flinging dolls into the water and supervising pretend dives. We finally made it to the ocean on day five, and though Clara kept her head dry, she enjoyed digging in the sand and exploring large holes left by other beachgoers.
Midweek we squeezed in a date night after Clara went to bed. We used an anniversary gift card from my parents and went out for a seafood dinner at a local restaurant called Bluecoast. Since we’d already eaten with the family earlier, we indulged in things we don’t usually order at home: an appetizer (shrimp dumplings), two desserts (key lime pie and bread pudding), and a mojito for Sherry. We finished the night with a stroll along the boardwalk and some light window shopping.
Other highlights from the week included evening bike rides that often ended in ice cream, kayaking straight from the backyard canal using my dad’s tandem kayaks, and a big family night in Rehoboth where we took Clara to Funland. The carnival rides were familiar favorites, and we tried a few new things like the mini Ferris wheel. We also managed to take a couple more family portraits before a sugar-turned-meltdown cut one session short.
By Saturday afternoon we were back home, a little sandy and already missing the rhythm of vacation life. Clara still asks to go to the beach every morning, so we may be persuaded to get her a boogie board to tide her over until the next trip. How about you—have you taken any summer trips or celebrated an anniversary lately? Are you planning something for later in the year, or do you have a familiar getaway you return to each season?