We were lucky enough to get invited to a friend’s beach house for a long weekend. The weather for the weekend was looking iffy, so we headed directly to the beach once we arrived. No small feat to get 3 adults and 11 kids onto a beach with lunch, chairs, towels, toys and more. Once we got the headcount process down we were good to go and could almost relax ourselves. Backup arrived (two dads) in the early evening, the addition of two adults made a huge difference. At any rate, we had a great day. The kids loved it! We did get rained on for a few minutes but we were rewarded with a rainbow. We had to cut the short fun though on account of lightening. We made it back to the house before the storm started. We went to bed that night with thunder rumbling and woke up to more of the same.
The next morning news started trickling in about the rain in Chicago. As it turned out, our town got almost 8 inches of rain overnight. Reports of lots of flooded basements and power outages. The main highway that runs by us was closed due to flooding; the ‘L’ was closed with the tracks under water. Craziness! Our basement usually gets some water and I was a bit nervous about what we got especially with our neighbor reporting they had 2.5 feet in their basement. Ultimately I figured what could I do, might as well stay and enjoy the beach. And so I did!
Saturday was another beautiful beach day. Sunday was beautiful as well, though we opted for blueberry picking. I had never been before, it was really fun. The kids liked it and got lots of berries, 3 lbs to be exact. We were hoping to head to Mount Baldy, which I have not been to since I was a kid, but the lot was full. We had a nice drive instead. We ended the weekend with an epic burger from Redamaks. Weekend complete!
Taking a trip with three families, totaling 11 kids and 5 adults has the potential for disaster. But I have to say, it was smooth going. All the kids were so well behaved and got along so well. OK, well there were a few fights between siblings, my two being the leads on that. The adults were all well behaved too, and we actually managed to have some fun together since the kids were having so much fin together. Nice to have great, fun, friends that you can be with for multiple nights at a stretch without issue.
Arriving home, our alley was full of neighbor’s carpets. Furniture, boxes, and other damage junk from basements. Not a good sign. I was beyond relieved to see virtually no water in our basement. What a relief! Hmm, maybe it’s because ‘us people’ made lunch for the churchgoers.
I may have been late to start my summer, this was the first time in my bathing suit enjoying any sun and water, it was worth the wait. The kids and I both needed it. Could have only been better if the husband was there, he is stuck in Georgia for two weeks. I am so looking forward to a whole week at the beach in August!
You people rocked! I should hang out with your kind more often – hee hee!
Yes, yes you should.