IT'S A BALMY 23 DEGREES - LET'S HIT THE BEACH!

just chillin' in Mommy's chair

(my new favorite climbing apparatus)

at the beach house

When the temperature drops below freezing, what else does one want to do but hit the beach? We took a mini-vacation to Bethany Beach, DE this past weekend. It was downright bitter, as the coldest weather of the season settled in on the area late last week, but Steve and I decided that if we were going to be stuck inside, we'd rather have a nicer view from the window! We headed down to meet our friends, Mark and Christy, and their kids, Emma and Tommy, and their kids after Caroline's music class at Imagination Stage . The dads decided to brave the 20+ degree temperatures to take the kids to the park - leave it to Caroline to throw a fit when it was time to get into the warm car to come home...

While they were busy taking one for the team, my friend and I also had a chance to hit the Tanger Outlets, where (shock of all shocks) I didn't pick up a thing for myself! I did, however, pick up a couple of things for Steve and some really cute stuff for Caroline at Gap Kids and Polo Ralph Lauren - GREAT sales there this weekend (and definitely warrented a stock-up on baby gifts for friends!).

Although we stayed at our friends' parents' place because the house has an elevator inside (thanks Aunt Patty and Uncle John!), we still popped over to the indoor pool in the neighborhood where Christy and Mark's beach house is. This was probably the kids' favorite part of the trip, and it definitely killed some time for all of us!

The kids had so much fun hanging out together, and Tommy in particular wore Caroline out by playing chase with her for about a half hour before bed. Maybe we should borrow him to come over every night! It was also so nice to hang out and have a few cocktails during the evenings.

It is so funny to be down there in such a mellow kind of way - for so many years after college, Dewey Beach, DE (where we had a summer house with our friends and my cousins, just north of Bethany) was our home-away-from-home, and it definitely moves at a different pace! Although The Starboard, my most favorite bar in the world, was closed, I would be lying if I didn't say I got a little sad when I drove by! We'll have to make a trip down to Dewey this Summer... It's crazy how much life changes when you have kids! Speeding down to the beach in record time so that you could get a coveted parking space in front of our house in Dewey and run straight to the bars has been replaced by speeding down to the beach because Caroline needs a diaper change! Despite this, I wouldn't trade her for all the Starboard Specials in the world (hee hee)! Even though we never even saw the sand, and only saw the water from Coastal Highway, the weekend was relaxing, and just what we needed. Hope your weekend was nice, too... :)