Memorable Weekend

Alyssa and Jeff came up last Saturday. They were visiting some friends in Philly and spent the day with us. It was sort of last minute so they ended up just hanging out with us and helping us around the house. I was immediately and completely transported to an alternate universe where I lived close to my sisters and running around, picking up mulch and vegetable starts with them was the most normal thing in the world. We came home to find Jeff and Brian scrubbing the deck together, and when they were through, we all went to our diner to eat. Wouldn't that be great, to do your chores with your family, and then swap next weekend? They could give us tomatoes and we could loan them our lawn mower. Alyssa and I could go shopping and Jeff and Brian could watch the game. Then we could barbeque and sit out late watching the kids ride their bikes. Sigh. Oh, well--it was fun to have them here, and I guess we owe them a project!

Monday we finished mulching--so much mulch! (not really, I just had to say that, so much mulch, because it's fun to say)--and then packed a cooler and headed to the beach. The one we went to last Spring Break, when we froze doing a Family Hike. On the upside, we had the whole beach to ourselves, and it was so lovely, despite the freezing wind, that it immediately became Our Beach. The sky was already spitting as we sped east, and I feared that our family outing would end up with an hour drive only to eat sandwiches in the car. Luckily, it cleared up by the time we got there, and the sun was just hidden enough to be the perfect temperature.
The kids burst from the car and attacked the beach with joyful ferocity. They ran--no sprinted--to the waves and ran into and out of the waves almost as fast as they came in. They bulldozed through the sand using shells, throwing sand up in a sort of frenzy. They scoured the beach and picked up every shell within a quarter mile. I, on the other hand, lay out a towel, and got lost somewhere between the grey sky and the grey sea.

We took our now traditonal Family Hike down the beach (anything is a tradition if we do it more than twice). The kids ran--no still sprinting--ahead and then came tumbling back to where Brian and I strolled along. Apollo lept along sideways, dragging his foot to make tracks in the sand. How the waves and the wind can feed the kids' endless energy while soothing me into a karmic state of calm at the same time is part of the mystery of the beach.
Finally we headed home and bbq'd Beef,Mint, and Pepperoncini Burgers with Lemon Feta Sauce --which is one of my all-time favorite burger recipes (only chop the cherry tomatoes up, otherwise they just fall off). After dinner, I kissed my lobster children (because I was a bad mom and forgot all about sunscreen on such a grey day) and sent them to bed, where for once they went to bed without a struggle.