Beach weekend

In late April, my dear high school friend generously invited my family of four to her beach house in LBI, NJ. This is a special place for me; the location of our after prom celebration, the place of a few weekends of high school shenanigans and most recently, a retreat space for Jess and I where we escape from the relentless needs of adulthood and motherhood.

When she said she would be visiting for a week and would we come, we jumped at the opportunity. And the weekend was GORGEOUS! Oh my! Nothing like one of those first amazing weather weekends. Blue, blue sky, warm air. Just an amazing weekend.  She was there with her daughter, Elle and her father, Bill. And the time together as a group was really wonderful. We just played on the beach Saturday afternoon, coming up in time to eat too many pre-dinner snacks, make a huge pasta dinner, and drink too much wine. The three kids had a blast playing on the beach, talking and playing in the house. They seemed to relax and just enjoy! Little Elle, who is 2, invited our guys for their first ever sleepover.

What a trip! So we had a 6 year old, a four year old and a 2 year old. There was ample place to sleep in the room's two twin beds. But did they want to sleep in the beds? Nope. Party time on the floor. All three of them in sleeping bags tucked themselves in. Jessica read them a story and sang to them as they all snuggled down.  Seren and Wyeth haven't even had a sleep over at our house, much less with friends in a new house! Seren, as predicted, fell asleep in about 2 minutes. But we kept hearing voices from Wyeth, who usually takes a good 30-40 minutes to unwind. And this time, he had someone to keep him company! Elle talked back!

Around 9:00, I went in there for one last time and rubbed both of their sleepy heads until they fell asleep.

The next morning, before we went to the bay and the beach, Jessica surprised us by throwing a little birthday party for Seren. Party hats, gifts, lollipops and even a chocolate cake were all produced, seemingly out of the air! It was awesome! Seren loved it! It was so magical to celebrate with our extended family, at the beach, under sunny blue skies. So many wonderful simple things.

I always return from my visits with Jessica with a renewed energy. She has a love of life which is quite contagious. I also am so deeply grateful for long time friends; there is simply nothing better than spending quality time with someone who 'knew you when'. The fact that she and her father included my entire family and made it an amazing celebration weekend was just over the top goodness.

Thank you, Jessica, for the amazing hospitality. We are so lucky to have you and your family in our lives!