Life is good.

The year 2002, was the last time I stepped into the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean is part of me. I have countless memories in the ocean, both the Pacific and the Atlantic. In Perú, we lived 2 blocks away from the beach and the same goes for Miami. I never quite realized how fond I am of the ocean until last week when we took a trip to Ocean City in Maryland. Scott did some research about affordable campsites at close by beaches and found Ocean City. We packed up and left last Monday. It was about a 4-hour drive. The first thing we noticed when we stepped out of the car was the bugs! They were feasting on us instantly! We didn't think to bring repellent but got some as quickly as we could...$9.99 later and repellent in hand, we thought we were safe...apparently these bugs were repellent resistant because we were their feast for the rest of the trip...just imagine yourself biting into a succulent piece of meat...with that same satisfaction were these bugs biting us. Scott went to put up our tent, while the kids, my brother and I went to play at the beach.

Stepping onto the hot sand brought dozens of memories. Brielle and Braden were both in heaven, just as I was as a child in the beaches of Peru. There is something serene and inviting about the ocean. The smells and the sound of the waves brought many happy memories...it almost made me forget about the impertinent biting flies all around us. For a moment I wished I could transfer all of those happy memories to my children so that they can see with their own eyes, feel and experience what the ocean has given me. I guess my stories will have to do. Hopefully we will visit the ocean often enough they'll create memories of their own.

My little old man...:)

Brielle was in heaven...

Eating sand...

There are wild ponies in this area of Maryland. They just run wild around the beach and all over the place. They are beautiful and at first we were mesmerized by them until they started to get too friendly and too close to us and one almost stepped on Braden...we stayed away from them from then on...

Scott got back from setting up camp, we spent a little longer at the beach then headed to or campsite...

We were filthy...

and sweaty...

We had dinner at almost 9pm. Our tin-foil dinner was delicious. The kids were tired and we were all ready for bed after dinner. We were all filthy and had sand everywhere. We headed to take a shower. By the time we got to the shower house I think had 5 bug bites on my legs and 5 on my arms. We made it back to the tent, sighting relief...thinking that we were safe from the fierce bites of these bugs!...we were so wrong!!! About 2 in the morning I woke up itching EVERYWHERE...I was exhausted and all I could think about was my comfy bed, bug-free back in Virginia...Around 2:30am. Scott and I grabbed the kids to go sleep in the car...my brother was in his own little tent, I don't think he got any bugs in his tent like we did.

We got up EARLY the next day, had breakfast and headed to the beach. In spite of the annoying biting flies, and the awful night's rest we had, the simple fact that we were at the beach seem to make it all better.

Scott keeps telling me that he wants to go live in Florida for a few years before we settle somewhere for a while...I'm thinking that might just be a great idea...:)