Hubby is back to working nights, which means he leaves for work 15 mins before the kids get off the bus and he is asleep when they leave for school in the morning, so they literally don't even get to say one word to him until Friday at 3 pm! That leaves them with daddy from 3 pm Friday until he leaves for work again Sunday. Needless to say, weekend chores are becoming a thing of the past, and I am going to have to get used to doing it all during the week for their sakes.
When Loch got home on Friday afternoon, it struck me how much he looks like a miniature college kid and pretty soon we will be wishing we spent more time doing quality things with the kids and less time letting them run wild in the yard while we do chores.
Although we are very antsy to move back north someday, we are trying to remember to find the good things about our area and get out and enjoy, for time passes quickly and we won't miss living by the ocean until we don't anymore.
Yesterday, we made our favorite commute -
to our "secret spot"! This is probably my favorite place in all of Virginia Beach, it's one of the last unspoiled places here, devoid of hotels and oceanfront strip tackiness. I personally would rather stay on this walkway and enjoy the maritime forest, they are becoming rare.
Of course the kids always have a different idea...
I've never been a fan of just "sitting on the beach", my kids are so young still that I can't take my eyes off them for a second so it's not like I can read a book or knit. We compromise and walk the beach, letting the kids play in the (cold) surf while we people watch and pick up trash :)
Below, this girl was lucky! It rained Friday night, poured Saturday until just a couple hours before we got to the beach! Although the winds were gusting and blowing out their tiki torches and making a mess of all the girls' dresses, at least it was sunny for her ceremony!
* (a bit of blogger personal info - hubby and I were also married on the beach, although it involved a single flower in my hair, no shoes and just 2 close friends and a cooler of champagne & beer - very low key!)
One thing I am very proud of is that we didn't find much trash until we left our "secret spot" not open to tourists and ventured to the "outside world" part of the beach. Being able to legally "trespass" is another perk we have :)
Then it was game on...
Just another day at the beach.
The day's haul: items of note today were a jug of motor oil and a syringe... blech!
We ended the day with a regular old skool meal of bbq steaks, baked potatoes, and of course... salad. We also have 2 nicely conditioned kegs of homebrew ready for consumption - one hoppy Double IPA and the lighter one is a Blonde Ale.
Lots of chores are getting put on the back burner on the weekends now, but it's pretty much just weeding and maintenance, and that never really ends, does it? I'm doing my best to shelve my Type A personality for awhile and go with the flow, since to be honest this is not really that busy, only lettuces and peas with minimal processing are coming in. Plenty of time for my obsessive freak flag to fly when the canning starts later!
Hubby has left for work now, so I actually may get a car washed today if the dark skies keep to the east, that's been on my to do list for quite some time, and the kids like to "help", so I may indeed get some stuff done with the rest of the day!