Going To The Beach

We are on vacation, finally celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary (it was this past March) with our kids and grandkids. 

This is the most special vacation ever for us to all to be together. 

We are in a house with 5 bedrooms and 5 baths with our own private beach in Delaware. I live in Pennsylvania, so it is about a 3 hour ride.

It took a lot of prep to pack up to go. Here's what I did !

We needed to bring anything and everything that we would need for daily living. The only things provided in the house are furniture, a kitchen stocked with blender, dishes, knives, etc., and beach chairs. 

I packed and packed and packed

Hand soap, laundry detergent, dish detergent, paper towel, toilet paper, food, my Instant Pot, snacks, sheets and towels if you don't rent from a service, umbrellas, (they only provide beach chairs), and of course all our clothes and toiletries including shampoo, etc.

 We will do a run to the supermarket or Costco too. 

Special Eating Needs

Two of us are gluten-free and one of us is vegan as well (me) which makes the food situation a trifle more challenging. Most likely I'll take over the cooking. I brought my Instant Pot. Yay!!

Breakfast and lunch: 

We plan to eat breakfast and lunch in the house and go out to local seaside restaurants for dinners. With 10 people, including a 3 year old, 6 year old, 11 year old and a 14 year old, eating out isn't so easy. In addition, this is the week that camp ended, so this is a very crowded week at the shore.

What kind of restaurants can I eat at? 

I actually can usually find the best selections for me in an Italian restaurant where I can get gluten free pasta or GF pizza, or in an Asian restaurant where I might order steamed vegetables, rice, and tofu, miso soup or pho, or vegetarian sushi rolls. Indian cuisine works well too, or sometimes I do well in a  Mexican restaurant for black beans, rice, and guacamole- Ethnic restaurants offer the best a vegan and gluten free selections for me.

Breakfast: 

We are eating in. It will be oatmeal bake with fresh fruit such as peaches or overnight oats (link) with fruit and toppings of walnuts, chia seeds, etc. which requires no cooking and is creamy and delicious. (recipe link) .

The kids eat oatmeal too.

Lunch for me: 

Salad (I made 6 Mason jars of salad at home and brought them, so the salad is ready daily). (Salad in a Mason Jar- Link to how I do it) I also packed steamed red potatoes to add to my salad and brought chickpeas. 

I made 6 ready to eat jars. I kept them on ice for the trip down and they will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator. I just have to dump one in a bowl for a ready made salad. 

Lunch for everyone else: 

Sandwiches, pizza, grilled cheese, guacamole and dip, etc.

Happy Hour in the House-  after a day at the beach!

White and red wine, crudités and corn chips with dips such as guacamole, hummus, lebanah and za'atar,  and cherry tomatoes.

Dinner 

We have dinner reservations in one Italian restaurant, but there are mostly seafood restaurant choices for the other dinners because it's a beach town. I'll manage (I hope) while the nine others will win out for their choice of restaurant and that's fine since there are not a lot of ethnic restaurants to choose from (I'll eat something before I go). 

Beach Body

I've been dieting and getting myself in shape for the beach ! 

OK. just kidding. That's not me - 

We are just settling in so I will post photos of us as the week goes on. 

Organization Idea

A friend suggested that I keep a list of everything that I needed to bring for this vacation including things I should have brought in case we do this again. She said to leave the list inside my suitcase. I thought it sounded like a great idea, so I'm passing the idea on. Of course the techies probably already have it on their phone? 

Family Photo 

We are taking a beach family photo taken on Thursday! 

The plan is wear white tops and jeans or a white dress. 

It will be a wonderful memory from our 50th anniversary celebration.

I feel so blessed and grateful. Have a good week everyone and I'll be back soon!

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