outnumber them

one lesson we learned at the shore (and not "beach" as Jeannette correctly pointed out) was that parent-types should outnumber kid-types at all times. usually this wasnt a problem, with Gramma and Grampa around, but they had a party to attend in the next state for a day. Gramma tried to warn us, but we decided that we'd rather have chaos in a nicer setting than the living room.

we headed to the sand, surf and sun with 4 adults (the 3 sisters and me) and 4 kids: 3 infants and 1 toddler (who picked that day to be terrified of the water). it was indeed chaotic. first, we forgot to aquire quarters to feed the ever-hungry parking meters, and then I forgot my camera in the car. so Liz went for quarters and I went for the camera, leaving only 2 moms and 4 needy kids. the twins were hungry, Casey was acting like a 3 year old (which is only natural, since she is 3) and Caleb was clingy, so things broke down rather quickly. soon one of the twins had a face-full of sand, kids were screaming, and it didnt take long for the folks around us to find a different patch of sand to claim.

things got a little better when Liz and I returned to even the odds. so we brought the boys down to the water, leaving Casey to throw sand whereever she pleased. Caleb and Julian didnt want much to do with the chilly ocean, but Chase, the bold one, had a grand time.

it wasnt too long til we packed up all the junk (and there was a LOT of it), retreated back to the house, and waited til the grandparents showed up to improve our odds.