So We Took Two Kids to the Beach...

Scott and I took the kids to Galveston earlier this summer. Let me tell ya, it was one for the books. Have you ever taken kids to the beach? Young kids? Kids who can’t walk yet? Woo hoo! Sign me up! #vacationofthecentury

Somehow we made it to Galveston despite the fact that our car weighed a million tons. We had suitcases, towels, sand toys, a tent, chairs, an overstuffed beach bag and a blow up pool for Cooper to sit in, because that’s what Pinterest said works.

We pulled up to the beach after the hour and a half it took to get out the door (WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG TO GET OUT THE FREAKING DOOR. EVERY. TIME. SOMEONE PLEASE FIND A SOLUTION AND TAKE IT TO SHARK TANK. Actually, come to think of it, I think it’s called a babysitter).

So we get to the beach, and there’s this terrifying construction between our car and the sand called the sea wall that has to be like 27 feet tall and there are no rails and it extends for miles - the whole length of the beach! So, you know, very kid friendly. I don’t think I took a deep breath until we were headed home, 15 miles outside of the city. Mix the existence of #seawall with a curious threenager and you’ve got a recipe for a strong margarita.

We made it past #seawall together, holding hands on the long descent down the stairs and stopping to pick up all the crap that was falling out of our bags. At some point I finally realized it was pointless to knock sand off of things (this took longer than I care to admit).

Through a series of dramatic 'parent looks' it became apparent that only one of us would be putting up the tent. Cooper's magical blow up pool was still in the box and, being 9 months old, all he wanted to do was crawl and put sand-dusted bottlecaps in his mouth (good ol’ #galveston).

I kicked a beach towel down and tried to spread it out while holding a sandy baby and yelling at Molly to “MOVE BACK! STOP! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!” In the meantime, Scott was putting up a tent that rivaled #seawall in all its grandeur. I felt the clock ticking as my skin grew warm and wondered how long we would make it out here before a meltdown (I was also worried about the kids).

“Mommy, can I PLEASE go to the ocean? I want to swim so bad-wee!”

The whole situation reminded me of a game we used to play with the youth group at church where we would all hold hands and in a very monotone voice chant "This is so much fun..."

I felt like a bad mom for keeping Molly from exploring like all little kids want to do. But wasn’t I a good mom for dragging our family out here in the first place?

The wind blew over tent parts that Scott was trying to secure, and the kids were growing increasingly restless as I tried to keep them on a towel no bigger than a yoga mat.

Scott and I again shared a 'parent look' that said "KEEP. IT. TOGETHER." If we gave in to the negativity, this was going to be a dreadful morning.

It wasn’t fun, but Scott got that tent together for us and didn’t complain one single time. His positivity gave me the push I needed to keep the kids (and me) in a good mood until there were four hands free to wrangle our beach explorers.

It was super hard! But one of us would pull the other back whenever we felt the urge to be negative.

“We’ll figure it out. We’ve got this. It’s going to be good. Look how big the waves are!” (And also - "My mother will NOT be right. Going to the beach with kids does NOT have to be hard" - love ya mom).

Instead of focusing on the heat or the sand that had crept into every crevice of the seven bags I brought out or the whining kids, Scott and I worked together to find the positives in our situation and it gave us momentum to see our plan through.

And you know what? It worked! We had two and a half super fun hours on the beach - with no sunburns! The tent stayed up, Cooper rested in my arms for a bit, and Molly fought the waves enough to tire her out for an awesome nap later that day.

Positivity changes your reality!

That day could’ve easily turned into - “This tent sucks. It isn’t going to work. Molly, STOP WHINING. Cooper, UGHHHHHHHHH. Let’s just go back to the room.”

But instead, we got to enjoy Molly and Cooper’s first dip in the ocean complete with some cute pics to top it all off (isn’t it crazy how hard it is to get good pics of everyone all together?).

And on the hike back up over #seawall to the coveted A/C of the Hyundai, two dads helped Scott bundle up all our beach crap and lug it back to the car. I love stuff like that. People are good-natured.

Don't let the sandy babies of life pull you into the vortex of negativity. Look at the ocean in front of you and stay positive!

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