The J6 Journey: Year 4, July 22nd-23rd, 2019: Beach Day to Rainy Day

Today was the last very hot day this week, thank goodness! And after some putzing around, we made it to the beach right after lunch. We were on the beach almost 2 hrs but the kids had a blast, especially Abishai! He got to build his sandcastle and run up and down the beach to the water 50 times. He didn't mind the sand one bit, either! I told you he's our Island baby! Gary and Leah got bored after about 20 minutes and started walking up and down the beach. Leah and I didn't don our bathing suits, and Gary refused to get in the water because of the threat of "flesh eating bacteria." It's a real threat, but the risk is high only when you have an open wound and you don't rinse off properly afterwards. Leah was getting "overheated (Benaiah's word for it)" physically and emotionally because of the heat. She felt like anything she said wasn't good enough or we'd question it. I had pushed for a later start and that we would eat lunch first because I don't like eating on the beach with all the sand. Plus none of us got up until 9am. I'm sure Gary and Leah were up at 7 or whatever. Aaron noticed it and later on said something about some tension in relationships. There is definitely some tension because as a family, we are still making the transition from Gary and Leah making the plans or pushing (slightly) for their plans like leaving early to the other 4 adults making the decisions for what is best for our families. If 10 of us don''t get up until 9 and don't want to leave until 1, then that's what we should do. We just have different routines, different tolerances, different needs. So yes, their needs and wants are valid, or what they think is true, but it's really ok to be corrected and not be offended about it. For example, Leah came back to the beach to point out dolphins that we had already been watching for 15 minutes. She said two dolphins and I said, well, there is actually about a dozen dolphins out there. I was a little too quick with an answer, and I wasn't trying to sound like a know it all, but I think it came off that way because she said, "I just can't be right, can't I?" and huffed away.

Leah, Gary, and Benaiah went to see a WWII thing while we spent more time at the beach. Benaiah hates the beach. And that's fine. We did have to make a solid plan of when to meet up though because cell phone service is spotty in the park AND in certain places in town. Gary kept talking about taking a couple of vehicles to the beach to drive down it (the home owners' vehicles) but neither of the other guys really cared. We simply have way different priorities and interests. And it takes some of us a lot longer to leave the house because we have more people to get ready and we have to make sure our physically needs are met (medications, certain foods) for whatever length of time we are out. I have developed a headache, although I was pretty careful about hydration. That meant I didn't do much for supper prep because I was taking care of other things, trying to be social with the Milners because they had come home before we got home, and nursing my headache. So I looked like a bum. Sorry. At least Shauna made sure we had plain chicken and not just fried chicken to eat. Sigh. Anyway, I think the parents just need to learn that if you are going to say "we'll do whatever you want to do" then you need to be ok with that. And we need to continue to be more firm with that and say, no, let's leave at 1pm, that would be best for the majority of us. And it was. I was not ill or hungry. No one needed to eat (although we got ice cream on the way home at 4:30pm). And that's because we waited, had lunch, and then went out after I had had my medication and my stomach settled for the day.

And I will be acommdating the family on Wednesday when I have to get up at 5 am in order to leave by 7. Just so we can be a at a train station at 9, to get to the Washington Mall right at 10 when everything opens. Our tour at the Capitol starts at 1. And we are only staying for 1 night, not two, like I had wanted so we could avoid getting up so early. Then we'll do the Museum of the Bible the next day and come right back. We are going to feel rushed and we aren't leaving enough room for people getting ill. Praise the Lord the heat will be bearable again. And whoever want to see something outside of the Washington Mall area, like Benaiah going to a special Starbucks 40 mins away by walking, can do their own thing AFTER our tour. I wonder if he and Gary could take the subway to that Starbucks and then walk back or something before 1pm. I don't know. It's going to feel rushed and I know we'll have some push back about which buildings to go in and what to see. For example, Gary thinks everyone wants to touch a moon rock. No one wants to touch a moon rock. Gary thinks the Bible Museum isn't a big deal. I think it's a bigger deal than monuments to dead soldiers or touching a moon rock or seeing a gun from whatever war. So, we'll see.

So far, so good on me holding my temper and my pain levels being manageable. I'm really being careful what I'm eating and not cheating like I do at home. Therefore no coffee or baked beans. No bites of someone's ice cream. No cheese on anything. It's just the headache from heat and dehydration. And we'll get a break from that with this huge storm front coming through. In fact, we are going to do a movie and trampoline park, maybe go to some shops tomorrow. We'd like to go see the feral horses on Assateague Island, but we can do that later in the week when the weather is clear and not everyone has to go. I didn't know we were within 1-2 hrs of Assateague/Chintoteague but only Keturah and I have read the horse books about it. Misty of Chincoteauge and Misty's Foal, etc. about life on the Island or the mainland and driving the horses across, etc. I reread those books a few times and I hardly ever reread books. Jared will drive Keturah and I and Everly if push comes to shove that Aaron and Shauna need to go to the airport on Saturday and Leah wants to clean their "house." The girls are coming home to Indiana with us for "grandparents" camp. So, we'll see.

Yeah for rain, and yeah for the indoors tomorrow! We are already wiped from the activity and heat and Keturah and Nora are both on edge, as well as Leah. Time to actually rest on vacation before the big D.C. trip, which has now become a quick field trip where we will barely get to do anything. Sigh. But that's another day.

Tuesday Gary took the six kids to a trampoline park and we went to an antique shop. Jared bought some belts, Leah bought something for an anniversary gift for Gary. Then they went into Ace Hardware to buy a ton of different kinds of root beers of all things. Aaron loves to taste root beers from all over. We ate lunch, then Grandma took the 5 youngest grandchildren to "her" house to watch movies and the four of us adults plus Benaiah had some quiet time at our house. Aaron, Shauna, and Jared watched HGTV while Benaiah watched his Netflix shows and I worked on the blog. It's so hard to work on the blog stuff because I have a hard time putting my computer on my lap and there's no desk up in the loft for me to put my computer on. I'm out of my element so I get easily confused. I might have to write down a checklist. Gary was gone to a repair shop a few towns over to fix the windshield on Leah's car. And then tonight, we all went over to church member's house for dinner that consisted of meat that had been smoked for two days. Yum!

Delaware Playlist 7/22-23/2019

iPhone pics:

We found a plethora of toys in the closet in our room! Lots of trucks and cars, an army base, and even some Legos!

The kids were pretty good about picking up their bedding each day and not begging for electronics. They certainly loved their Minecraft time, though. Abishai often woke up at 7, but no one went down to breakfast until 9am.

Time to wake up the Miah at 11am!

Beach day!

I didn't put my swimsuit on because I knew I wanted to do the photography ofr the day. I did end of standing for the whole 90 minutes we were there. But it was worth it.

It's hard to do a panoramic shot when the waves keep moving!

Beach hair, don't care!

We went to a very expensive ice cream place on the way home where you could see the milking cows. It reminded me of Cow's Creamery on PEI because it was gourmet with similar advertising, but then they had tours as well, which reminded me of Kelsey Farms. But Leah informed me that Kelsey quit their dairy farm business! I quickly looked it up and sure enough, soon after our tour last fall, they shut down the dairy side of their farm and sold their cows. But they are still farming their other crops and having their fall festival. I guess there's been a downturn in the need for dairy products in the midwest, maybe because more and more people are sensitive to it and are drinking less milk. It's still sad to hear that they had to close that portion of their farm down.

Army trucks, GI Joes and army bases, what's not to love right before bedtime!

Minecraft time!

Snacktime!

Winding down for bedtime doing some word puzzles.

Nighttime rituals and Justin's homemade bed made out of couch cushions. It's a good thing my kids are flexible in where they sleep!

Everly and Nora in their bed reading.

Steps I took on Beach Day.

Late night shenanigans with the eldest. We have to have our screen time, too! I moved from one place to another upstairs until I realized I could just sit at the dining room table downstairs if I was quiet and used headphones. A hard kitchen chair is better than sitting on the floor craning my neck down!

All lined up for a pancake breakfast!

Carb loading for....who knows!

Trying to plan out our days in D.C.

My scribble when asked to sign waivers so the kids could jump at the trampoline place.

Beautiful set of antique looking little Greek teacups at the "antique" or used store.

Meanwhile Grandpa had fun watching the kids bounce. Abishai loved it of course! Gary only took this one picture. The rest were videos, so check out the playlist I put out above.

Jared liked these. I should have gone back to get them. There were no handles but they were perfect for a little something special.

This bin brings back memories for the original J4 and the "used" underwear section at a store in Michigan. Leah asked how I knew the story so well and I said, well, you tell it at least once a year to someone! And I think we stopped in there on one of our trips years ago.

An Indiana spoon in a Delaware antique shop. No, I didn't buy it either.

Lots of fun magnets, too.

Benaiah spoke to Ava many times throughout the day. I think they are bored without each other. She was just hanging out at home. I can't wait for school to start for them. Don't worry, I did let them have some private time, but they don't talk about anything too deep usually. It kind of reminds me of Jared and I.....oh the days of "Just hang up, Melinda, I have nothing else to say" and "But I just want to hear your voice!" Oi! Puppy love!

More brotherly love wrestling!

The one time I had coffee at the Milners. I tried very hard to stay away from the foods I'm sensitive, too, because of how high my cortisol was on my test and I really didn't have time for stomachaches. But, this was yummy with the whipped cream!

Dinner at the kids' minister's in laws house. They live right next to each other. Actually, most of his mother in law's family lives on the same street! And the mother in law and father in law always cook up a storm for a large family meal on Sundays! So, they did it again for us on Tuesday! We just replaced some of the cousins and aunts and uncles, lol.

We all said that we knew this was a grandparents' home because there were several kinds of ice cream and tons of toppings! And yes, I had some!

Everybody got their fill! And the meat we had for dinner was melt on your fork type meat, smoked for 24 hrs. Oh my word, so yummy!

I wanted to know if I could make it walking around DC without a wheelchair. And knowing that I walked 10,000 or more steps every day on vacation last year, I thought maybe I could do it. One less thing to hassle with and I'm glad we didn't bring the wheelchair. The backpack and wagon were tough enough

DSLR pics:

There were a few nature center employees out at the bathhouses near the beach we went to on Monday. The skull is from a dolphin, and the mandibles I think were a shark, could be a dolphin. And of curse a turtle shell.

Sand dunes! Reminds me of the dunes on PEI of course! And we can't walk them, so there was a bridge up and over them.

I believe it was a yellow flag day that day.

A few of our kiddos and their first time in the ocean this year.

Abishai was the most excited for the beach because he had watched a brand new Blippo video about him being on the beach. He couldn't wait to dig in and build a sand castle!

Daddy helped him of course.

But boy that water looks enticing! Go for it Mr. Islander!

Keturah, Everly, and Benaiah, who didn't bring a swimsuit and only put his feet in for like two seconds.

Jared digging up a trench for the sand castle in his new swimming trunks.

Check out the playlist to see how the giggles and screams this beach bum had!

Nice job, Daddy!

Ok, now that the sand castle part is done, let's check out the water. And of course, Grandpa is on the phone. Grandpa actually didn't go in the water this time because he was afraid of the flesh eating disease that's been hyped up on the news. Yes, the disease does kill you and yes, there's been reports of it on the east coast, but if you wash well and don't have open sores, you should be fine. Leah didn't swim either.

Abishai spent a good portion of our time on the beach going back and forth with buckets to fill his moat or to destroy the girls' castle later on. Back and forth and back and forth.

Aaron in his white shirt and hat keeping watch on the middle kids.

Whoosh! Here comes a wave! The beach was clean and there were lifeguards, too. The waves were perfect size for just a little bit of rush.

Whoops, he got knocked down!

But that doesn't stop him, lol. He was meant for the beach!

Check out that smile!

The non beach bums. Actually, when I think about it, not many Johnson vacations have involved the beach. A lot of our friends got to Florida every year to go to the beach. Not this family. Benaiah hates the feeling of sand, Leah doesn't swim and it's too hot for her, Gary was literally bored so he started walking up and down the beach. Finally the three of them took off for a military fort of some kind nearby.

Cargo ship just like in the old days. It's Monday, someone is always working right?

Waves!

Beach patrol? Coast guard? With the amount of boat traffic, especially going towards Baltimore or D.C., who knows.

He didn't wear his floaties, but he did take his ducky floatie out to the ocean just like he had planned. He thought he'd be safe like with his water wings, but that wasn't quite the case.

We interrupt this session of captioning photos to bring you Mr. Gigglehead who won't go to bed. So, instead, we scrolled through all these photos and talked about our beach day. I needed that interruption and reminder that although the kids don't get to scroll these as often as I do when working with them, it's still important to me to take photos and write some of the stories down. I should put a link to the blog on the tablet as well as on Justin's phone so they can scroll through when they want to.

Now back to journaling....big wave!

The only time we let him out into the ocean a bit. I don't see a picture of his dramatic rescue, but a wave did catch him by surprise and he did go under for a second. He was scared a bit, but that didn't last long. A healthy fear of the water is a good thing.