Beach Trip 2025 - Five Days in “Laid Back Mode”

A few weeks ago, summer was about to slip through my fingers without any notable fun for my kids. Between everyone’s work schedules, social calendars, and me feeling generally overwhelmed at the thought of planning something, we were down to the wire. With them getting older, time is fleeting and I didn’t want to miss out. If you are the planner for your people, you get it. Sometimes planning a trip/party/celebration feels like too much. If you have big kids, you may also wonder how many more trips you’ll actually get with them. I’m lucky — mine all said yes and I didn’t take it for granted.

The logistics felt overwhelming. Could we find a house that allowed dogs? Would I need to take out a second mortgage to kennel them if not? Who would feed the cats? Would everyone actually want to go when the time came? Because the only thing worse than someone not wanting to go… is that same person going when they don’t want to. And if I booked a big enough house and someone bailed, how pissed would I be? When Justin offered to stay home with the dogs, I didn’t argue. This took care of most of my concerns. From there, the trip started to flow, and a theme began to emerge: low stress and no expectations.

With low stress and simplicity in mind, I booked us into the Sea Colony community in Bethany Beach, DE. Sea Colony isn’t new to us — it was the spot of our very first real family vacation back in 2009. That summer, while all the neighbors were flitting off here and there, Matt asked me, “What’s a ‘bacation?’” I jokingly said, “I have no idea…” but I took the cue and booked our first trip to Bethany. It’s an easy six-hour drive, totally bikeable and walkable, and perfect for young families. Over the years, we ended up back there several more times — so returning felt like the easy that I needed. Just like other years, I only booked it two weeks before we left.

Low stress was the goal and I wasn’t cutting corners. I added the linen package, placed a grocery order, and decided to just spend the money on beach gear instead of rolling down the turnpike like Fred Sanford. No expectations, no overcomplication — I was going to the beach and I hoped all three boys would come, but it wasn’t mandatory. Truly living that mindset isn’t easy. It takes practice.

I set our departure time for 8am, so leaving by 8:30 is a family PR . Other than slow traffic and my live, solo car concert, the drive was uneventful. Our “six-hour” trip turned into nine, but we rolled in just in time for First Night Pizza from Armand’s — our Sea Colony tradition.

First Night Pizza since 2009!

The house wasn’t great but good enough. The days found an easy rhythm. Everyone woke when they wanted — no alarms, no pressure. Evan and I were usually first, greeting each other with nothing more than a quiet nod. I slipped out for morning walks with no destination in mind. One morning, I even caught the sunrise over the beach. I stood there and enjoyed it.

The guys carved out their own itinerary. Evan dug holes in the sand until the “beach police” shut him down, just like he’s always done. He and I kayaked one morning on the bay — the only sound was the wind - except when we brought up family kayak trip from years ago. We had to paddle upstream on the Allegheny River to get to our pick up spot. Owen was little and not a motivated paddler, so I tied our kayaks together — only to look back and see him dragging his oar in the water like an anchor. Classic Owen.

Matt joined me on a lot of walks. Sometimes we just sat and read side by side, his book sparking questions that opened little windows into his thoughts. Me telling him why I thought the 80s were the best time to grow up — easier than my parents’ generation, and long before social media.

Owen, meanwhile, preferred solitude. He’d head out walking or biking alone, and I let him. Not chasing him down was my way of giving him the same space I’ve learned to give myself.

For me, I slow walked back from the beach each day, grabbing a frappe along the way and never rushing anywhere.

Even though everyone took their own time, there were moments we came together — grabbing pizza or McDonald’s, a stretch of beach time, a night walk to see the meteor shower.

Being back at Sea Colony stirred up memories from the early summers. The bike trailers — one overloaded with beach gear, the other hauling kids. Three year old Evan riding like a pro on his 12” bike without training wheels. Little Matt wave jumping for hours. The three of them tearing through the fountain at the marketplace. The “Mini Golf Incident of 2009” — Owen growling louder with every missed putt until his grand finale of shot putting his plastic club and ball into the air.

I started with a mindset of low stress and no expectations. I think we did just that. I refused to rush. I refused to get frustrated. I didn’t raise my voice. The weather was perfect. The only request I made was the tree picture.

This trip felt good. It gave me exactly what I needed: a reset, a reminder, and the practice of choosing peace over pressure. And I’ll hold onto that as long as I can. And who knows, maybe I can wrangle them into another trip down the road.