May 30, 2007

Kicking off the Summer

We decided to kick off the summer right this year, and spent Memorial Day weekend in Ocean City, MD. There are benefits to having a husband who traveled 24/7 for two years. . . hotel points. We spent the weekend in the new Hilton Oceanfront Suites and it did not disappoint. We had a living room, a bedroom with two queen beds, a full kitchen and a fabulous jacuzzi tub in the bathroom that made more bubbles than Lil C could have ever imagined. We also had some cool chairs that are Lil C approved.

We also had a fabulous oceanfront view that Lil C enjoyed immensely. I mostly just freaked out and continued to test the rails to make sure they were up to my standard.

In addition, there were two oceanfront pools. One had a swim-up bar that I did not get to enjoy despite the fact that I kept telling Mr. BBM that he was "on duty" and that I was going to go make some new friends at the bar. I’m all talk apparently.

The other was a kiddie pool where I spent most of our time getting splashed by some kid who thought my legs were pool toys. I started to seriously consider practicing some take downs, especially when he got his little hands all in order to splash Lil C again, after both of us and his Dad told him to knock it off. Mr. BBM and I also took about 3000 turns each catching Lil C at the bottom of a kiddie slide, when Mr. BBM wasn’t taking a ride himself. Lil C also cleared out her sinuses in the fountains that were just the right height for a good shock to the nostrils.

Lil C also enjoyed hanging out with her new buddy, the whale. That partially-transparent-because-she’s-so-white-girl is me, and that’s the most you’ll be seeing of my new swimsuit which was so delayed at Victoria’s Secret that I went out and bought a different one.

During our short stint on the actual beach, Lil C thought it was particularly funny to dump a bucket full of sand on my head. She also found the freezing cold waves pretty hysterical, especially when they splashed her "bum bum." The weekend was fabulous, minus the four hours it took us to get out of our actual room and down to the pool or beach each day. Putting sunscreen on children is completely exhausting.

Unlike North Carolina beaches where we go each year, Ocean City has a much younger crowd especially this time of year. A popular destination for Senior Week, I was reminded of the stark difference between my visit to OC MD 13 years ago compared to now, with two children. The difference is huge.

Thirteen years ago, I was partying with my friends after graduating high school. This weekend, I spent a large proportion of my time trying to get Lil C to sit in a high chair and/or just let me breathe for a minute. This is her idea of hanging out with Mommy, or "Me" as she likes to call me. We are officially in the "clingy" stage.

And then there’s my other kid who’s not clingy in the tiniest bit, which had me constantly scanning the pool and freaking out when I couldn’t find her and her cute little floral bikini.

So to those going off to Senior Week within the next few weeks, my message to you is simple: Enjoy it, because in 10-15 years you’re going to be a little less hot (a little people, not much), and a lot more busy putting sunscreen on little munchkins. You’ll trade your Coppertone oil in for SPF 50 minimum. Gone are the nights spent partying until 2 a.m. In fact, 10:30 starts looking like a pretty reasonable bedtime after a day at the beach. The good news is that you’ll spend a lot less money on beer in the future; and instead of laughing at your drunk friends, you’ll be laughing along with your kids who are having an absolute blast.