Our family and home life has been pretty stressful lately. Just a lot of responsibilities…and a lot of duct tape and wire nuts.

Turns out when you buy a brand new house–with all brand new appliances–eventually they’re all not brand new anymore. It also turns out that the lifespan of most major appliances is about the same. Which means all our brand new appliances from when we moved in are now all on their last leg. All. Of. Them. Bless his heart, poor Mr. Fix-It is resuscitating our HVAC on a monthly basis it seems like. The kiddos and I had a conversation about it the other day and I explained that everything has a life span. People live 80 years, and then pretty much every day is a blessing. Dogs and cars live 10 years, which is like 50 or 60 to a person, and then you’re enjoying your Senior Citizen discounts and planning to enjoy your retirement for a few years. Most major appliances and systems are 8-10 years (hopefully 12!) and after that…well…let’s just consider our washer to be a 90-year-old man. We could have a few more years or just a few more minutes, so let’s just be gentle, and be grateful.

So the other day when it was too rainy for farm work and everyone was home for a change on the weekend, we loaded up the kiddos (and some snacks) and drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to spend the day at the Eastern Shore.

The weather was pretty ugly, so we didn’t actually leave with the intention of going to the beach, per se. We were just getting out, doing a little antiquing, having lunch together, and we wanted to check out a few campgrounds over there for future use. Our kiddos were just wildly glad to have a chance to not be home for a while.

And it was gray and windy, but it didn’t actually rain the entire day.

I had done a summer study program over there in college and Mr. Fix-It has gone to a couple forestry conferences out that way, so we were generally familiar with the area–the Virginia counties at least. It was fun to see that it was still all new territory to the kiddos.

 

It reminded me that sometimes little things really can be the biggest deal. {smile}

Most of the camp grounds and parks over there have beach access, so we took time to get out of the car for a few minutes and walk around. It was just warm enough to enjoy–but not warm enough for them to want anything more than a little bare-foot time!

We also drove through the little towns and talked about boats, history, and architecture with the crew. Kids are sponges for that kind of stuff…did you know that? All three of my munchkins can point out the differences between Victorian and Craftsman architecture and usually identify where porches have been closed in, or if someone changed wooden siding for vinyl, or when the shutters don’t match the actual window dimensions.

And then we headed home, having had a GOOD DAY together.

There will be real beach adventures, and lake adventures, and camping adventures later this summer, I’m sure. But this one–this jump in the car and go–was special. It was a break. It was a breath of fresh (wet) air. {smile} And it didn’t require money (except tolls) or a farm sitter or even sunshine. Just time together.

We won’t be doing a “bucket list” over here for the summer. We’ll just be doing life together, squeezing in the moments we can grab, and trying to make the small things big. Do you have summer plans already?

Maybe you should think about the Eastern Shore! {smile} Here are some great resources to explore and enjoy the Chesapeake Bay area the same way we love to…
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