Letters to Myself From the Beach

I'm trying something a little different and taking the blog on the road. We're headed to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for five days of family frolic. Five people, one minivan, too much luggage, four stuffed animals and a box of Lucky Charms.

The last item is an important vacation ritual we took on from my sister's family. She never bought junky breakfast cereal, but she did allow her boys to pick a box for long road trips. Invariably they would pick Lucky Charms. We don't buy Lucky Charms at our house because its stereotypical "Irishness" sets my husbands teeth on edge, but we make an exception for vacations. Someone always seems to pick out and eat just the marshmallows...

My mother used to make us individual car bingo games for long trips. (She always had a spiral notebook and a ball point pen with her when she traveled.) Her car bingos were mind-bogglingly challenging. I'm not talking a stop sign, a truck, and a gas station here. I'm talking quonset huts, cast iron lawn dogs, drawbridges, VW convertibles...

When Alice was little her grandparents took her to the beach every summer. They loved antiquing. I was concerned that all those visits to antique stores might be a little wearing for a little girl, so I made her antique store bingos. I hoped it might make it a bit more fun if she could be crossing off "old sheet music", "pocket-watch", "bowl and pitcher set", "Depression glass", and so on.

But, of what use is a spiral notebook and ballpoint pen in a world of smart phones and tablets with apps galore? Well, I'm making an old-fashioned car bingo for Margo, anyway. Between that and some family word games like Ghost, we should be able to give electronic devices a bit of competition.

This week's theme will be "Letters to Myself From the Beach." I've looked forward to this trip since last summer, and I want to remember it for a long time. We are so lucky to have our whole family together.

“Emily: Do any human beings ever realise life while they live it?--every, every minute?”

― Thornton Wilder

I'm going to do my best to pay attention.

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