A Week at the Beach

I haven't posted in a while because I teach at a local university, and with end of the semester grading and final exams, we weren't out adventuring much.

But this past week we did take a week-long beach trip to Perdido Key, Fla. We went with my husband's mom and sister and her 7-month-old twin boys. My husband joined us about mid-week, and a few other family members were there from time-to-time.

Considering the last trip we took was a whopper of a drive, the four hours to Perdido Key flew by!

The kids and I spent most of the week dividing our time between the beach and the pool. We would usually head out about 8 am and come back in around 11 or 11:30 each day. We'd stay in for an hour or two and then go back out to do all over again - swimming, playing in the sand, running from the monstrous waves and walking along the beach looking for shells.

After about three days I realized the sun and I just aren't friends anymore. Actually, I've known it for about 12 years now, but I hoped between the 30 and 55 sunblock I kept on the entire time, I would have better luck.

Nope.

When I spend more than three days in the sun for long periods of time, my skin breaks out in a rash. It first happened years ago when I was on a cruise, but I was on an antibiotic at the time and thought I was having a weird reaction to it. It happened again several more times in subsequent years when I was at the beach. This time, the rash appeared on my upper thigh first. By the next day it was on my chest and then by that evening on my feet. On Wednesday night I had to borrow some Benadryl from my sister-in-law because I was itching so bad I couldn't sleep.

We spent Thursday at a local putt-putt/arcade riding go karts, driving bumper boats and playing a round of 18.  And Friday we went to lunch with a family friend I've known since childhood that has both a house and condo there in Perdido Key.

Those last two days we headed out late afternoon to the pool so I could avoid the sun. We wanted to spend Friday night on the beach with our flashlights hunting for crabs, but a thunderstorm rolled in just as we were getting ready to search.

All in all it ended up being a trip for the record books. I know it's one my children will always remember and cherish because of the memories made last week.

There's just nothing quite like a week at the beach with family.