Comedy of Errors

The next day of staycation held a world of opportunity for us.

We had a list of things we wanted to do

on staycation as a family.

 We had a family meeting about it,

and Lily took notes.

This day was my One

and Only Contribution to The List.

I wanted to go to The Lake Michigan Beach.

I felt foolish to have this natural beauty near us,

for so long and

we (me the nature lover)

had never taken full advantage of it.

The time was here and now.

We left Jake in charge of the house,

and took off.

We drove Lake Shore Drive,

until Darin found the spot to drop us off.

He sent us on our way so he could find parking

and join us, momentarily.

We gathered our many belongings:

Sun Umbrella,

quilt,

towels,

sunscreen,

snacks,

sand toys,

and Lawd only knows what else

and started on our pilgramage to

Oak Street Beach.

We walked a mile or more

carrying our heavy load of stuff.

 Charlotte cried

for nearly The Whole Time.

Because...

She dropped a sand toy.

Lost a flip flop.

Her legs were tired and broken.

Whathaveyou.

I could see the oasis of paradise ahead.

"Keep moving"

"Come on C!"

"Almost there!"

It was only 103 degrees,

and only a 1+ mile walk

with 100 lbs of gear.

"JUST DO IT!"-I coached.

And eventually,

we arrived.

And we parked ourselves in the middle of

 twenty something city dwellers,

(who were also super models).*

*The urban beauties came with their towel,

a smoke, and phone, only.*

And they watched us Suburbanite Griswalds as we settled in with our king sized quilt, sand toys, sunscreen and sun umbrella.

They were kind and nice and beautiful and uncomfortable with Us.

Believe me,

I was also uncomfortable with

Us, at the moment too.

But we made the best of it.

It was our day, MY day, afterall...

 and Dad would be joining us soon
to make it all complete.

So we starting splashing in the cold water and building sand castles.

I had one eye on the girls,

the other on my purse and phone.

And at one point our sun umbrella

(newly purchased = so smart of us)

blew away nearly injuring every

Hot Next Generation we had at Oak Street Beach.

I ran to it, and put the stakes in much deeper,

feeling like,

 I was getting a handle on my surroundings.

Far too much time went by.

Darin had yet to call and yet to arrive.

After an hour I got a text from a strange number that he lost his cell phone and to meet him at

Sup Up Saddle.

I looked around and I didn't see Sup Up' Saddle.

I went back to building sand castles and considering my next move.

And then for the 2nd time a Hot Twenty Someone said to me

"Um, Ma'am your umbrella is blowing away."

And I looked and withnessed

another Hot Twenty Someone

 (who I am pretty sure was Usher)

had stopped the sun umbrella before it took out the all of the

Beautiful People.

What could I do but laugh?

I said, while laughing

"oh. M .Gee.  Thank you and I am so sorry and I guess its time to put this away."

Do we look like we are sort of having fun, but getting

a little nervous at this point?

We are.

The crowd of hotties offered smiles and nods.

And I checked my phone.

 Darin told me where the place was.

It was by The Big Boat.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't see the

The Big Boat, in my view.

And then, even worse, it started to thunderstorm.

So I swooped up the kids and our now seemingly 1,000 lbs of belongings and

headed for shelter in a tunnel.

With the million of beautiful people

doing the same.

I set my bags down and tried to calm

Charlotte's tears

and Lily's freak out

("what if we never find Dad and have to live in this tunnel?")

I sent a final text to D that said,

just meet us at Oak Street Beach.

The reply came fast...it said

"I am sorry, we are no longer with your husband.  We took cover from the rain."

Dognamit.

After the tunnel flooded to our ankles, I started asking around,

where's "Sup Up Saddle?"

No one knew.

I even asked the self employed beach workers who travel the beach selling ice cream.

They had no idea what I was talking about.

Oh no.

So we ventured out, and decided to walk the only way we could, the OTHER WAY.

And eventually, hot and sweaty Darin carrying the heavy cooler was walking toward us.

So we went to NORTH BEACH, where he had been, and apparently

where we were suppose to be.

We got 3/4 through a major sand castle project and a storm was rolling in.

Again.

That was enough for me.

So we headed to our fancy hotel.

Stay tuned.

Life's a bitch, beach.

haha!