Back from Oz

I hadn't been to a beach house with a big group of people in at least... 10 years? I think? When I was something like 15 years old, my family gave up beach houses in the Outer Banks in favor of Ocean City, Maryland, which was deemed more interesting than OBX thanks to its boardwalk, and also cooler, weather-wise, due to its location further north. And although I can't remember where we stayed in Ocean City, I'm almost certain it wasn't a beach house.

So, yeah. At least 10 years, possibly more. But this year my sister advocated hard for us to all get together (and by all I mean her, her fiancé, his kids, Torsten and me, my parents, and close friends of our family--two parents and their daughters who are like sisters to me, or at least cousins). And after much logistical struggling, we managed it. We found a nice house large enough to accommodate all 12 of us, right on the bay, in a town we all wanted to go to (Cape May, suggested by my sister's fiancé), and we all managed to show up there on the same day and spend a week.

It was lovely. I am quite used to being with just Torsten and Montana, alone in our house, which is very peaceful, so this was quite a change. Two young kids, lots of adults, games being played all the time, always someone talking, food disappearing from the kitchen within two hours of being purchased, giant meals where we had to put every leaf in the dining room table and seriously cram to fit in and the food was served buffet style, never being alone.

And yet, it was remarkably calm. It was surprisingly easy to decide where or what to eat, and often everyone would be out at different places, or all at the same place, and the house would be empty. And the house itself was up to the task--six bedrooms, three of them with private baths, a big dining room, an enormous kitchen, a lovely living room, and best of all a huge deck directly overlooking the bay. Plus, the bay is to the west so even though we were on the east coast, we could see sunsets over the water (full set here):



The only bad thing about the bay is that there were tons of horseshoe crabs, and apparently their mating season ran late this year, so they were everywhere, all in the water and on the beach, stuck together. It was gross and they were gross, and they made us not want to swim in the bay. But the ocean beach was only a short drive away, so we went there and that was better.

So, all in all, less exhausting than I was expecting, and instead just relaxing and so lovely to spend time with family. And I hope that we will do similar things when we have kids of our own. There has even been discussion that some years instead of a beach house, we could rent a mountain house, which would involve everyone coming to us, and which would be amazing. In fact, Torsten and I are thinking of trying to find a cabin in the mountains for a weekend this summer, just to get away a bit and because the mountains are beautiful and amazing and so nearby and so we should take advantage of that.

So yes, a lovely trip and just what we needed, but oh, it's so nice to be home. I missed Denver while we were gone: Montana, of course, and our house and our bed and our quiet lovely life, but more than that I missed the city itself. The weather, and the mountains, but also just the city and the places and parks that we love and the people and the attitude and the smell of it. Denver is starting to really feel like home to me, really feel like my place, really get under my skin, and I love that.

Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm allergic to humidity. Just another reason I was glad to be back. When we got back last night, after picking up Montana from the kennel and eating dinner, we just sat on the back patio, relaxing, while Montana chewed on a bully stick in the yard (if you don't know what a bully stick is, I suggest not looking it up). It was lovely and tranquil and I don't know, apparently I've turned into Dorothy or something, because really, there is no place like home.