Assateague Island 8/14

The week after we moved into our new home we took a family vacation to the beach. I was dreading this trip because I felt there was still so much for us to do to get organized around the house but I’m so glad we went anyway. Sitting on a beautiful beach and playing in massive waves is good for the soul. Assateague Island is a barrier island located on the Eastern shore of Maryland. It’s a state park so it’s not built up with hotels like its counterpart Ocean City. We drove over the bridge Friday morning and set up our tent shortly after we arrived. It rained almost the entire drive so we were all nervous how it would all work out. Thankfully we only had a few sprinkles on the beach and enjoyed overcast skies and high 70s! The waves were also massive and we even saw a few people trying to surf. Matthew was a big fan of the waves, he stayed out in the water the entire time we were there.

That evening the sprinkles continued but we were able to roast our hot dog and smores. We all went to sleep early and that’s when the real fun started. The rain picked up but we had our rain fly on so I figured we were fine. Seth and I both woke up around 2am to heavy rain and strong winds.  I was nervous the tent would blow over but it never did. We were both surprised that our kids continued to sleep though the loud noise of the rain and wind. Eventually our water proof tent began to fail and the water started seeping in. Seth and I were on higher ground on an air mattress so wet kids started popping in our bed. Eventually there was five of us on a queen air mattress. Conrad slept the longest in his pack n play in the middle of the tent and also stayed the driest. Matthew actually crawled into his pack n play after he woke up to enjoy a dry spot. We all napped for a few hours and then once the rain stopped around 5:30 we decided it was a good time to break camp (there was more rain forecasted throughout the day). We had some massive garbage bags we loaded with the wet tent, sleeping bags, and pillows. By 6:30 we drove 20min into town for some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.

So, what to do with a family of 6 at 7am? In Matthew’s first grade class, Matthew’s teacher told them all about Ocean City, Maryland. In Matthew’s mind, Ocean city was the greatest place on earth and he asked us often when we would take a visit. Ocean City was only about 30 min from Assateague so that’s were we went. We walked along their boardwalk at 7am with all the joggers. We rented a surrey (bicycle car) and rode it farther down the boardwalk. All the kids loved taking turns to drive it. After we returned it we all bought candy at a local candy place called The Candy Kitchen. We had thought about staying at Ocean City to swim but quickly realized Assateague was the place to be. We drove back over and spent the rest of the day playing in the water before driving home that night.

Matthew made it to Ocean City, Maryland!

I sadly have no picture of our family driving the surrey because my phone died.  Thankfully I do have a stock photo and Seth’s photo editing skills so you get the idea of what we looked like on this contraption. It was  a lot of fun to drive and we were able to cover a lot of distance with it. I loved the little front seats for Lucy and Conrad. 

I think it’s funny how Charlie and Matthew both claim their favorite memory of the summer was sleeping in the wet tent while it rained. I’m grateful they found the fun in something unpleasant.