The trip to Seaside has taken on almost mythic proportions in my family. We start talking about our next trip as soon as we leave our condo. We make our condo reservations in January, with our fingers crossed that it hasn't filled up. At most family gatherings there is a mention of how excited we are for Seaside, how much longer to Seaside, and where are we going to eat on the last night. It is almost ridiculous the excitement we have for this trip. But my sisters and I absolutely love it.
We started going six years ago when my brother-in-law was on his first deployment overseas. He was gone, my husband was proving that his bike was his true first love and planned a weekend of working at Greg's and cycling, and I decided that was it. The girls needed to leave. So, my two sisters, and my 5 year old niece and 7 year old nephew made our first trip to Seaside. It was unbelievable, nice weather, hotel on the beach, great fish and chips, tedious souvenir shopping, swimming in the pool, and hours of sitting on the beach. No one was there to tell us when to get dressed, ask what we were going to do today, or tell us that eating nachos and veggies and dip for lunch each day was not very healthy. It was almost like we were kids left alone. We ate what we wanted, lazed around as much as possible, and had an incredible time. There was some misfortune, a near drowning experience where my sister had to rescue me, not her son, and my niece deciding she was old enough to walk back to the hotel alone. I have never seen my sister move so fast!
We have never had as nice of weather since that first trip. One year we broke our rule to not drive the car the entire weekend by going to the movies. It was raining so much we were out of options. We have sat on the beach in the rain, bundled up to our eyes in towels, just so the kids could play in the beach one more time. We have rented one of those rickshaw type bicycles and tried to pedal around Seaside. We have enjoyed each trip we have taken there.
It is now our sixth year of going. We have added three more kids to the mix so there are now more kids then adults, and we have added a grandma. They dynamic has changed but the point of the trip remains the same. I have stockpiled up on chips and candy, food my husband would vomit over. I plan to eat fried foods and cheesy pizza without ordering any "no cheese on half". I plan to sit outside for as long as my boys want to, not caring if I am bored or not!
Three more days and we will be going to the beach, the beach, the beach....
