Big dogs, Beach days and Bed days

Ezra doesn't have many fears.

Big dogs have always been one of them. I'm working on it with him and have been for a while.

He's also afraid of flies (all flying insects).

He also will give a hilarious face when you swing him too high in the living room. He'll say "too high" in his squeakiest voice and then ask for you to go higher...not sure that's a fear.

So I thought that when we took him to the beach for the first time...

Honestly, I dont know what I thought. I was nervous, excited and was on the fence of whether he would love it or it was going to be a 5 minute trip and then back to the van.

Things I was worried about:

Sand- it gets in EVERYWHERE

No nap - meltdowns

Beaches = dog walkers - need I say more?

Outside = flies

and then all the what if's that accompany water, waves, fish, rocks, sand etc.

SPOILER ALERT::: HE LOVED IT!

I took a support person with (not sure if for me or for Ezra, but in the name of please help me they obliged). I cannot say thank you enough.

The drive there was hysterical, we somehow got lost on a straight shot road (totally my fault...still no clue how I did it.), arrived at the hotel and stayed on a floor as hot as Dante's Inferno, got there too late to swim, but the kids weren't too cranky. They just loved the fact that we were able to snuggle in hotel breads, there was promise of "stellar hotel breakfasts" and we would be able to GO TO THE BEACH: a promise I had been making my children since I got divorced.

The next morning we got all of our belongings reloaded into the van and began the drive to the beach...but first, coffee. Dear God, please, help us find a good coffee shop.

Jada - my 19 year old looked up a few places and between our road pilot and her they chose which one. I was too busy navigating the insane swarm of bees around the outside of the van.

GPS started reading the directions and we were off. At our first adventurous stop light a woman stood in the middle of the road during a green light, I made eye contact with the woman to the right of us, who was rolling up her window and mouthing "I'm scared" as she re-locked her doors, like that would be additional reinforcement. The woman moved without any physical incident except for increased heart rates.

Next light was green for us, but the guy to the right of us obviously didn't get the memo as he came barreling towards the van. I screamed, yelled out my ex-husbands name to stop the car - super awkward. And then proceeded to have a panic attack in the front seat.

We made it to the coffee shop where our pilot, Jada and Ezra went into the coffee shop where they were greeted by a couple of patron's dogs. Ezra has gone from screaming bloody murder to "dog. Dawwwwwg. DOG!!!" then as the dog passes "Dog safe?". I do not want to teach him that all dogs are safe, because they aren't. But I do want to teach him how to spot a safe dog and how to see the danger. He worked through it and all was well.

We made it to the beach, coffee, no dogs, all in one peace and no crazy ladies firing guns from the middle of the road...or whatever.

It was PERFECT. Sunny, light breeze, 80 degrees. Clear water, soft rocks, soft sand. I set everything up, the pilot helped me put sunscreen on all 900 kiddos and then it was time for the water.

Wait....another dog passing.

Dog safe? Yep!

Ezra safe? Yes!

Now, water! Go!

He LOVED IT! All 3.5 hours in the sun was glorious. He built a sand castle, tried to eat the sand, put sand in his eye, there was sand in his diaper, and in creases of his ears I didn't know existed. Sand in his hair, his nose...glorious sand. But...he LOVED IT. Ezra has never been one to like sand and this was brilliance.

Ezra played so well with all of his siblings, they watched big boats go past, the birds fly overhead and ate snacks.

Ezra was able to identify his emotions and remain mostly in control, which was HUGE.

The drive home was - thankfully - uneventful.

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My daughters were with me for two whole weeks - in part because of summer break and in part because their dad had a work trip so they stayed an extra two days! Ezra grew so much during their long stay here. He was super active, we worked on using nice hands, Ellie and Ava both had the opportunity to take a break and go with Jada to enjoy some Ezra-free time.

Right now, as I am typing this, the girls just left yesterday and today, Ezra and I are having a "bed day". We usually have one down day a week where we snuggle and relax and just let our bodies rest from the hub-ub that is our life. Today Ezra woke up and said "bed day mom" and I agree.

I used to feel guilty having bed days when my daughters were younger. I saw it as lazy, unproductive, I could be doing x...y....z....but another lesson that Ezra has shown me is how to pause. How to slow down. How to take in the present moment. And that sometimes snuggles is all that we need.