Equipo Speaks: Vacation

I slept until 8:00. 8! Those that know me know that this is a celebratory event, and I celebrated with yogurt and oatmeal at the continental breakfast (along with coffee almost too weak to even be mentioned).

Rosalie may as well sleep in a bathing suit. I'm not sure she even managed to swallow her breakfast before she ran out to the pool and dove in. I'm not sure if she is just remarkably friendly or if kids tend to gravitate towards other kids (or some combination), but she got out of the pool an hour later knowing the name of ANY child that was in that pool with her. This gave her extra guilt ammunition when we packed for the beach. "But I bet Cory's still swimming!" "Can we stop and see if Clara is still in the pool?"

Despite yesterday's thunderstorm the waves have been pretty mild. Every 10th or 11th was one that had the potential to knock Rosie on her ass, and when one did Dad and I inhaled sharply, worried that this would be the wave that sent her screaming back to the hotel. But instead she laughed like a maniac and screamed "DO IT AGAIN!", as if we had control over these forces of nature.

I am kind of a wiener about ocean wildlife. Cloudy water or mirage-esque movement leads me to believe that I'm about to get stung by a manta ray (although I believe they stick to tropical waters) or piranhas (which I believe stick to rivers). But I have to put aside my admittedly ridiculous terrors for Rosie, because that's probably not a fear worth perpetuating.

Rosie ran from the beach back into the pool, and as I showered off the sand, that's when I realized that my back was toasted. If you know me, you know that shirts are generally mandatory attire, and I am very proficient in cultivating a farmer's tan. But as most of my torso and back has not been exposed to sunlight for quite some time, it retaliated by turning a nice strawberry red. I am guessing this is not the kind of burn that fades into a tan, so I will probably do this at least a few more times to myself...because I'm so smart.

Dinner was at Waterman's, a place I picked out thanks to googling "best seafood Virginia Beach", and skipping over the white tablecloth establishments. Ate some crab dip and a broiled mix of shrimp, crab meat, and scallops. In addition to being delicious, Waterman's declares that all of their seafood comes from sustainable fishing, which was nice, although somewhat dubious. Then again I know little about those sorts of things, so I guess I hope that they're true to their word.

After dinner the folks sat on a bench and people-watched while Rosie and I went to the fair, which was exactly the waste of money I had envisioned. We rode a ferris wheel and she rode one of the kid-sized rides, and then I blew $10 on games, both of which I won. So for $30 she got two rides, a stuffed frog (who she named Grass, for whatever reason), and one of those fiberglass light thingies. Dessert was custard at Kohr's...a staple of east coast beaches, I think (or at least they have them at Ocean City, too).

Just got out of the pool for the second time. That's a pretty great way to end a vacation day. And fun to brag about!