Summer: Sat., 7/21 and Sun., 7/22
Orlando family beach vacation! We're in Bethany Beach, DE, for the second year, in the same beach house we rented last year. It's such a wonderful house, and wonderful beach--just the right speed for our family. Nothing too crazy or big, just a cute small boardwalk area and a beautiful beach.
We all got here yesterday, Saturday, and drove here in a rainstorm. Pouring rain. It was a real trick to unload the cars in the torrents, but we (Andrew and Dad) did, and then later Molly and I went grocery shopping. The first day of a beach-house vacation is all about getting settled. But we did get out to the beach in the late afternoon, once the rain stopped, and though it was chilly, there were a lot of good shells to hunt for, and the kids dug in the sand.
Today, despite the dire weather predictions, was a gorgeous, sunny day. [***cue ominous music***] I went to beach yoga early this morning, and then we all had breakfast and headed out to the beach as early around nine. The kids were so excited. [***ominous music intensifies***] Mom and Dad weren't with us--they'd gone to their room to get their beach things--so it was just me, Andrew the girls, Molly, and Luca. Andrew worked on setting up the umbrella, Lucia started walking around with her metal detector, and Molly and I went to the water with Greta and Luca. After a little while, Andrew came over, and we tried to lay eyes on all the children. Luca and Greta were right near us. Lucia was nowhere in sight. Not worrying too much, since she'd just started walking a few minutes prior, we set off in the direction we'd seen her walking, assuming we'd find her. We walked and walked. No Lucia. Andrew took off at a run in the opposite direction, running some distance. Then he ran back. No Lucia. She'd disappeared. Mom and Dad arrived at the beach right when I was alerting a lifeguard that we were missing a child. ("WE CAN'T FIND LUCIA" Luca yelled in dramatic welcome.)
I was worried but not panicking. Since she'd had the metal detector with her, I was confident she hadn't gone into the water--we were sure she'd just wandered too far and then didn't know how to find her way back. She's not a reckless child, was never one of those toddlers inclined to jail-break from Brooklyn's gated playgrounds. I gave a description to the lifeguard (eight years old, light brown hair, lavender flowered rash guard, green metal detector), and he walkie-talkied an alert to all the other lifeguard stands up and down the beach. Within thirty seconds, someone had found her--half a mile down the beach, beyond the point where Andrew had run. Andrew took off again, running to Sand 1, as that area was called. "The dad is on his way," the lifeguard radioed in. After some time, Andrew and Lucia appeared, walking together down the beach. Lucia ran to me, happy but sniffling. She'd been so scared. Andrew said she was sitting with two lifeguards in a little jeep thing when he arrived, and they'd offered to drive them back down the beach, but Lucia said she wanted to walk with Andrew. And as soon as the lifeguards were gone, she broke down. Poor tiny thing. She said when the lifeguard found her he let her climb up into his lifeguard chair to wait.
The story is what we'd thought--she just wandered too far, and when she looked up and realized she couldn't see us, she didn't know which way to walk to get back. We hadn't been not watching her for very long, and it's amazing to me that she got that far in so little time. She said she was crying a little as she walked, lost, on the beach. Ack. Really just a terrible way to start our beach day, but right off now we have our Beach 2018 Story for the Ages, and we still have a week to go.
Even now, tonight, we can't wrap our heads around how she got so far away, so quickly. The time between when she picked up the metal detector to when we realized we no longer could see her was maybe five minutes tops. It's the worst kind of life lesson, the most horrendous parenting fail to date. Lucia told Andrew she thought she'd never see us again. Greta kept saying "I want my sister." Luca kept repeating "She's definitely been taken." All the kids are going to remember this. And now we have all kinds of pre-beach-day instruction to give them: note the lifeguard stand closest to our umbrella; if you're lost go right to a lifeguard stand; if you're lost DO NOT JUST KEEP WALKING.
Anyway: we recovered and had a fantastic rest of the day. We stayed on the beach until 5pm and then went to the house to shower. We ordered seafood from DB Fries and ate at the house, then went to the boardwalk for ice cream. We let the kids have "giggle time" before lights out and they all played with Splashings the girls had brought.
Whew. What an eventful first day.
We all got here yesterday, Saturday, and drove here in a rainstorm. Pouring rain. It was a real trick to unload the cars in the torrents, but we (Andrew and Dad) did, and then later Molly and I went grocery shopping. The first day of a beach-house vacation is all about getting settled. But we did get out to the beach in the late afternoon, once the rain stopped, and though it was chilly, there were a lot of good shells to hunt for, and the kids dug in the sand.
Today, despite the dire weather predictions, was a gorgeous, sunny day. [***cue ominous music***] I went to beach yoga early this morning, and then we all had breakfast and headed out to the beach as early around nine. The kids were so excited. [***ominous music intensifies***] Mom and Dad weren't with us--they'd gone to their room to get their beach things--so it was just me, Andrew the girls, Molly, and Luca. Andrew worked on setting up the umbrella, Lucia started walking around with her metal detector, and Molly and I went to the water with Greta and Luca. After a little while, Andrew came over, and we tried to lay eyes on all the children. Luca and Greta were right near us. Lucia was nowhere in sight. Not worrying too much, since she'd just started walking a few minutes prior, we set off in the direction we'd seen her walking, assuming we'd find her. We walked and walked. No Lucia. Andrew took off at a run in the opposite direction, running some distance. Then he ran back. No Lucia. She'd disappeared. Mom and Dad arrived at the beach right when I was alerting a lifeguard that we were missing a child. ("WE CAN'T FIND LUCIA" Luca yelled in dramatic welcome.)
I was worried but not panicking. Since she'd had the metal detector with her, I was confident she hadn't gone into the water--we were sure she'd just wandered too far and then didn't know how to find her way back. She's not a reckless child, was never one of those toddlers inclined to jail-break from Brooklyn's gated playgrounds. I gave a description to the lifeguard (eight years old, light brown hair, lavender flowered rash guard, green metal detector), and he walkie-talkied an alert to all the other lifeguard stands up and down the beach. Within thirty seconds, someone had found her--half a mile down the beach, beyond the point where Andrew had run. Andrew took off again, running to Sand 1, as that area was called. "The dad is on his way," the lifeguard radioed in. After some time, Andrew and Lucia appeared, walking together down the beach. Lucia ran to me, happy but sniffling. She'd been so scared. Andrew said she was sitting with two lifeguards in a little jeep thing when he arrived, and they'd offered to drive them back down the beach, but Lucia said she wanted to walk with Andrew. And as soon as the lifeguards were gone, she broke down. Poor tiny thing. She said when the lifeguard found her he let her climb up into his lifeguard chair to wait.
The story is what we'd thought--she just wandered too far, and when she looked up and realized she couldn't see us, she didn't know which way to walk to get back. We hadn't been not watching her for very long, and it's amazing to me that she got that far in so little time. She said she was crying a little as she walked, lost, on the beach. Ack. Really just a terrible way to start our beach day, but right off now we have our Beach 2018 Story for the Ages, and we still have a week to go.
Even now, tonight, we can't wrap our heads around how she got so far away, so quickly. The time between when she picked up the metal detector to when we realized we no longer could see her was maybe five minutes tops. It's the worst kind of life lesson, the most horrendous parenting fail to date. Lucia told Andrew she thought she'd never see us again. Greta kept saying "I want my sister." Luca kept repeating "She's definitely been taken." All the kids are going to remember this. And now we have all kinds of pre-beach-day instruction to give them: note the lifeguard stand closest to our umbrella; if you're lost go right to a lifeguard stand; if you're lost DO NOT JUST KEEP WALKING.
Anyway: we recovered and had a fantastic rest of the day. We stayed on the beach until 5pm and then went to the house to shower. We ordered seafood from DB Fries and ate at the house, then went to the boardwalk for ice cream. We let the kids have "giggle time" before lights out and they all played with Splashings the girls had brought.
Whew. What an eventful first day.
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