My Sunday Best Episode 6

Tim had to leave on a work trip Saturday morning, and I really hate his weekend departures. He tells me that he's only done that twice in six months, but both of those times have been this month. It puts me in such a bad mood when he leaves and it's supposed to be our family time.

Yesterday I decided I was done feeling sorry for myself, and that we were going to do something really fun, something that I ordinarily would not attempt as the only adult: I was going to take them to the beach. I made a pizza, sliced it up and put it in a cooler along with a few water bottles. I brought nothing else besides the Ergo carrier and a big bag of towels and changes of clothing. We would get there around 5, so no need to worry about sunblock. I instructed them that since their daddy wasn't there and there is no lifeguard at this beach, they could not go in any further than waist deep.

Then I loaded everyone up, said a prayer for it all to go OK, and drove us 40 minutes to the beach. And I was so glad I did. It might have been a lot of work, mostly keeping Joey out of the water. He was fearless and kept crawling toward the waves like a little sea turtle, completely unfazed by facefuls of salt water. But the Big 3 abided by the no-farther-that-waist-deep rule so I didn't have to worry about them. Then gave me a break when he sat for a long time on the sand just splashing in the water when it lapped up past him. It was such a beautiful time to be there, just before the sun set. Everybody ate the pizza. It was as good as it gets. I even managed to take a few pictures.

Around 7 I decided it was time to leave, and a while back when I wrote about the reasons why I didn't want to try going it alone, the changing and rinsing off process was a biggie. Here's how that went: We walked up to the changing and rinsing area, which is in the densely wooded area just behind the beach. This beach has way more vegetation than a beach ought to have -- you drive through a jungle to get to it. I had stayed dry and had already changed Joey on the beach and strapped him into the Ergo. The other kids attempted to rinse off their feet and ankles, then headed to the changing stalls. Then I realized we were being swarmed by mosquitoes and I said, "Everybody just get in the car!" We ran for it, me barking at them like a drill instructor the whole way. "Hurryup, hurryup, hurryup! Shutthedoor, shutthedoor, shutthedoor!!" I literally just opened the driver's door and got in with Joey still strapped to me. I would sort it all out once the doors were shut, the car was started and the fans were blowing hard to keep those skeeters off us. It was wet towels and bathing suits all over the place as everyone did whatever drying off and changing they still needed to do. There may still be just a leeeetle bit of sand on the carpets.

The next morning when I got Joey out of bed I saw that in addition to two brand new teeth, he was sporting huge red welts all over his face. Apparently the mosquitoes had been feasting on him the night before while he was right under my nose in the carrier. Poor guy.

CCD started today and we had to be there at 9:15. We snapped a few pictures in the parking lot. Lucky for me, my kids really enjoy the pictures. Nothing makes them happier than seeing photos and videos of themselves.

My outfit details: Skirt is J.Crew via ThredUp; shirt is a maternity tank from Target (still works!); scarf and sandals are from Kohl's. I love this scarf. Finally an infinity scarf that doesn't look weird on me, and it's light enough to be tolerable in the heat and humidity.

We got through CCD and Mass OK. The rest of the day was busy but went by quickly. I left Joey with a new babysitter, a teenage girl who just moved in down the street, while the rest of us went to see Pete's Dragon. I made fajitas, rice and beans for dinner, but didn't bother putting much on their plates since we'd already ruined their dinner with treats at the movie theater. It's going to be leftovers for me for days! Then it was hanging around the house and preparing for Monday as usual.

For more My Sunday Best, visit Rosie at A Blog For My Mom.