Lessons from the beach:
If you go to the beach with a friend who inspires good conversation, you may miss your exit, and not notice it for, oh, 14 miles or so.
That’s only a half hour extra in the car with cranky kids.
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If your strawberries fall in the sand, and you wash them off in the ocean, they will be salty.
Sea salt on chocolate – works.
Sea salt on strawberries – no go.
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If it is sunny and warm, but not hot, you may forget to reapply sunscreen.
This will be bad.
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Three hours at the beach in perfect weather means nobody, even you, will be happy that it’s time to leave.
Reit This Way 
Oh the beach sounds nice right now. The weather here has actually been making me look forward to the warmer VA temps. I know I'll be singing a different tune, though, when I'm 9 months pregnant in July.
We played hooky on Monday too but we went to the zoo. Beaches are everywhere, but there's only one zoo here!
You're so lucky to live so close!!