Summer fabulousness, and a box of ice cream bars.

The Army Football Club golf tournament is one of my least favorite annual events. Right up there with cleaning out the garage. It looks respectable here:

But winds up being an entire weekend of intolerable debauchery. This year, I took the excellent advice of a friend and likely saved either my marriage or my husband's life by fleeing the state- having hired the neighbor's 17 year old to do Seth's driving and left money on the counter for bail. (Just kidding about the latter.) (Or am I?)

The kids and I headed to Rhode Island, where my twin/former roommate Rebecca and her new husband and his five year old just scored a terrific assignment at the Naval War Colleg, just miles from her parents' two beach houses.

It's a perfect place for a weekend away, and we had a great time, the exhaustion of wrangling two on one's own in proximity of water notwithstanding.

Finley and Ashlynn hit it off, and had a killer time playing dress up

and hitting both the beach

 and the sprinklers.

Sometimes they even let Ford play with them

We spent a stunning (if highly stressful for yours truly) afternoon in a boat on Narragansett Bay, and went swimming and chased seagulls on Rose Island. And Finley and Ashlynn got to drive the boat.

We visited Bonnet Shores Beach Club (in our new sunglasses),

and Ford discovered New Haven style pizza

 and ate a remarkable amount of sand.

We'll be back in two weeks for Bex and Jeremy's vow renewal/ party, and we already can't wait. (Even if I have PTSD from a loonnngggg drive home across Connecticut with a dead iPad and wailing children.)



It was a fabulous, funny "summatime" weekend, and so good to get in time with friends who are family.



Of course, I came home to work emails, laundry, last minute takeout dinner from Highland Falls, and "groceries" from Rite Aid.

I am not kidding. This is Seth's version of groceries.


It's going to be a long week. But hey, we have ice cream.