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Take The Long Way Home

My oldest kiddo went to sleep-away camp for the first time last week. He was dropped off by Tim while I was on my way home from BlogHer. That wasn’t a really fun feeling, by the way – your kid being dropped off to somewhere they have never been before whilst you get to miss them for a week and half. Last Friday the little kids and I left to go pick him up, only we did not see him until Saturday morning. We stayed on the property of the camp and then went to get him at 9 the next morning.

It was REALLY good to see him. 🙂

For the record he LOVED camp and wants to go back next year for 2 weeks. Yes, that is a pajama shirt he is wearing upon pick up and no, he did not really wear socks while he was there (as was evidenced by the fact that they were all still folded and clean, in his bag). He did, however, shower every day. More than he does when he is home. Also? He came home liking milk. He’s never liked milk.

After pick up, all the kids and I piled into the van and headed for the ocean. My parents rented a couple of condos on Mustang Island and my brother Larry and his family joined us as well. I gotta say, having “older” kids has its merits. The frequency of “are we there yet”s goes WAY down as they get older (not away, but down). Plus the fact that my kids have seemed to inherit my strong bladder is a major PLUS. We made it the coast just in time to frolic in the water with cousins.

And have a night beach-combing session with Grandpa. (yes, that is a large pile of sand).

The sun rose a little after 7 each morning and I knew because the drapery panel in our room facing the water (to the East) didn’t quite cover the sliding doors all the way and the orange glow would show itself in our room every morning!

Someone I know was still sleepy but came to check it out anyway…

And then there was swimming and sand castle-building time (not necessarily in that order).

Also, while we were there I had the idea to follow in the footsteps of my friend @michelleocm (check her out on Instagram!) and go a bit “minimal” with my Instagram pics. Michelle lives near the water and I was inspired by her images to try it out myself. The first photo was my first attempt and then a few more follow. The sea definitely has good fodder for this type of photography!

All in all, the trip was a great few-day detour on our way to pick up our new puppy (more on that later but if you follow me on Facebook you know about him already!) But I feel like I’ve been “taking the long way home” most of the summer and I’m kinda ready to slow down and STAY home!

Thank you to my sweet, cute parents for hosting us at the coast…

…and to my awesome SIL for listening to me vent about my hubby not being with me to wrangle kids.

(meaning, keeping an eye on them in the ocean and keeping them from eating entire boxes of Fruity Pebbles).

And a few more photos just because…