Summer Kickoff

Like most people, I'm a little torn about Memorial Day weekend. It's a somber holiday that causes a lot of introspection for us, and serves as the backdrop for heartbreaking photos like this one (of Michelle's kids and her brother Paul's kids, at his grave in Arlington.)

It also marks the start of summer, and (roughly) our wedding anniversary. So we generally choose to celebrate big, and remember to raise a toast to those who can't. Last year we made the trek back to Maine to commemorate our up-north nuptials, where we scarfed lobster mac and cheese and blueberry everything and I eyed Seth's craft beers jealously since I was pregnant with Finley.

This year I was determined to drag her along to the beach, the fact that the entire East Coast does the same thing notwithstanding. Maine is a bridge too far with a tiny tyrant, so we settled on quiet Sandbridge, just south of Virginia Beach. Luckily, we beat the rush and headed down on a rainy Thursday (after my annual office picnic, which was a little soggy.)

There was still enough traffic to make for a slow slog down 95, though, so we stopped to let Finley stretch her legs halfway. Why not at a (kid-friendly, randomly) biker bar?

 It was definitely a long trip down, but well worth it to wake up Friday to a stunning rental house complete with pool, beach view, and kayak dock.

The trip was much-needed R&R. Seth had just finished finals and was still unwinding, I was a tad scarred from Finley duty while Seth traveled weekends for track & field meets and studied nights, and the little beast was battling yet another vicious daycare cold. So it took us a little bit to let vacation mode set in. Once it did, we had a blast. We couldn't have had a more idyllic setting for our summer kickoff.

Seth got to fish from a boat, a private dock, and a kayak, and caught a flounder that he immediately fried up and devoured. He even got me to try it, and I have to admit it wasn't bad. (Then again, is anything bad when battered and fried?)

Finley, our little water baby, was beyond thrilled about having her own pool, even though the weather was unseasonably chilly. She kicked her little feet furiously in her new pool float, and had to be dragged out literally kicking and screaming when she started to look bluish and chatter her still-nonexistent teeth.

We were thrilled to take her out kayaking for the first time too, which she at minimum tolerated and may even have enjoyed. (Our dock fed right into Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which is beautiful and- importantly for our baby boating experiment- extremely shallow.) Finley was more interested in chewing my life jacket than checking out wildlife, but at least both kayaks stayed rightside-up.

As for me- to my great disappointment, neither Seth nor Finley cares much for the actual beach, which I adore. They magnanimously both indulged what I deemed a significant milestone: Finley's first "toes in the ocean." There are about a billion photos of the big moment here.

Dozens of towels, more than a few teething wakeups, and about a gallon of SPF 8000 sunblock later, we were sad to go home (but mentally congratulating ourselves for realizing that a rental house is the way to vacation with a six month old.) We beat traffic back and spent a lovely Memorial Day at home. Finley and I did the Memorial Day Murph at a park with the Taylors (she's a great workout buddy!) and we spent the afternoon at their house barbecuing and having epic water gun battles at the pool. (Seth totally won.) All in all, our long weekend was a perfect way to kick off the summer.

In "photo of the week" news, this picture- of Seth and Finley in our pool in Sandbridge- is one of my favorites ever.

And this is from last Tuesday with Ana & Ata. I just think it's adorable. Our November baby couldn't be happier about the arrival of tank top weather!