Reality Beach

(We called this the walk of doom as the kids head down to the beach)

Reality follows you.  Even on your attempted "break from reality" vacation.  You cannot run and hide for long, it knows where you are and it won't leave you alone.  This past January, I set out to plan a week long beach vacation to hide away from our everyday reality.  "Just for a week!", I thought.  Surely, we could hide out for a week!

I've spent months since January dreaming about our very first family vacation.  As my kids were screaming in the background, I would say to myself, "You just have to make it to June."  I spent countless hours daydreaming about all the smiles, giggles and endless hours frolicking on the beach.  Oh, it was going to be magical.

What I got, however, was a kid with strep throat, allergic reactions to sunscreen, asthma attacks and pure panic when a wave came near. (not to mention a shark attack right down the beach from where we were staying)

Yes.  That is right.  It was fab.u.lous. It seems reality jumped in the minivan with us and headed to the beach.  And when I realized it followed us, I was less than pleased.

So after kicking the sand and screaming at the gods for a moment, I said screw reality,   poured myself endless glasses of wine and stuffed my face with sushi for the remainder of the week. 

Reality was here to stay.  Once I accepted it, dressed reality up a bit and made it more fun,  the clouds parted and little rays of sunshine began to poke through.  We managed to find a UV bathing suit,  a doctor to prescribe some antibiotics, administered countless breathing treatments and actually frolicked in the water just a little bit.

(Is that a smile and you're hugging  your brother?  Success.)

In the end, at least my reality was in such a beautiful location.  I did live to talk about it, the kids do want to go back next year, and my husband and I are still married.  We'll call that success!