Life's A Beach

All summer Trevor has been wanting to go to the beach at Sturgeon Bay. I've wanted to go, too, but not quite as much as Trevor because:

• It's a "local" beach, only 45 teensy minutes away by curving, angled road that makes me carsick even when I'm driving;
• Save for about five days, the summer so far has been relatively freezing;
• We live on a bay and have beaches everywhere, and I strongly believe Trevor only wanted to go because his friend lives by it and raves about it much like I might rave about going downtown, but that doesn't mean Trevor's friend's wife should be expected to go to my downtown and not her convenient one.

However, I'm sure 75 percent of the people reading this are thinking "Where's your sense of adventure?" and "It's a fantastic beach so go already" and to the other 25 percent of you, you are my favorite readers.

So it was Sunday and we were having one of those really fun family weekends filled with lots of kid-friendly stuff, so we went. Here is what happened:

I drove, and I got carsick (which probably has more to do with my not eating a single thing that day, which is something new I'm trying and seems to be working like a charm since I've lost one measly pound in three weeks).

When we finally arrived, it was beautiful, and we got a great parking spot.

It was freezing, and the wind was blowing so hard that my really big, heavy bag couldn't even stand upright.

Marta screamed with delight and ran right into the water, while Trevor stripped off his clothes (down to his bathing suit, thank you) with one hand while he hoisted her out of the water over and over, because she was in such crazed bliss.

I laid out the blanket and got the towels ready, and Berit Freaked Out Entirely because she was so cold that she needed to wear: a) The clothes she arrived in, b) Her jean jacket, c) Her pajamas, d) A hat and my sunglasses, e) A towel wrapped around her entire body, f) A second towel wrapped around the first towel, and g) My body wrapped around the second towel. She then cried the whole time.

Marta could not have been happier, sandier, more wet, or more cold. But she was ecstatic.

After 15 minutes, we packed it all back up because by this point Marta, still in heaven, was shivering and her lips were blue, Berit was... Berit, and Trevor was a human popsicle.

In case you're wondering, the above photo is of Trevor carrying Berit to the car wrapped in her cocoon, because she refused to walk on the sand or in the wind.

The day was saved by Polish food at Legs Inn, a half-hour at the Central Elementary playground and a walk downtown.