Things that should go without saying...

As many of you know, my wife's family is having a huge beach get-together the week after the 4th. There are currently 40 of us scheduled to mostly stay in one house. If you know anything about me at all, you probably know that me and crowds...not so much. So it is with great trepidation that I approach next week.

But perhaps I've got it all wrong in thinking that my wife's family is soooo looking forward to this trip. In fact, I know my wife isn't. She has come to realize the horrors of sharing one room with our 4 month old son and our 3 year old son. One or the other would be fine, but not both.

Most interesting, is this little note added to the beach preparation wiki by my wife's mom:

In case you can't read it, it says, "First and foremost, let's bring: Lots of safety-concious, love, patience, joy and thankfulness."

Besides just making me want to puke, it illustrates that she at least, recognizes that this coming week will be trying for all. I feel sorry for her really though. Her mom is the one sponsoring this little gathering (and by sponsoring, I mean spending the $10K to rent the house for a week), however, she's in her 80s and must be wheeled around everywhere. The beach is not the best place for handicapped people, which means my wife's mom will end up spending all her time helping her mom rather than enjoying one of the few times in her life she'll have all of her 7 kids and associated grandkids with them.

Maybe this message is more of a mantra she wrote for herself rather than for anyone else. Alls I know is, when the going gets tough, the tough go fishing. If anyone needs me, I'll be down on the beach catching baby sharks for all the kiddies to play with.