On relaxing, chilling out and doing nothing!
Yes, it can be done. I think my wonderful sisters-in-law (Hey, Lianna, note what is plural!) are trying to establish a tradition. Three years agothe girls and I joined them at "Mo-Beach" for a weekend of no stress. It was wonderful ! We read, walked on the beach, played on the swings, ate easy meals and went out to dinner. Everyone pitched in for any work stuff and we laughed.
The following year my beloved son put the kibosh on the trip by.... can you believe it..... planning his wedding for that weekend! It was a hard decision but we chose the wedding over the beach weekend! (Sarah, if you're reading this you KNOW I'm only kidding on the hard decision part!!) Last year I was all packed and traveling when I realized my health was going to interfere BUT this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even Mike joined us! We were a little skeptical about the weather because of the horrible weather we've been having but we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.
Mike kept asking what we do and I'd reply with, "Nothing"! He didn't get it.
Now I've seen him relax many times. Just get him in a canoe, on an isolated island or a remote spot, put up a tent and start a campfire and you have----Mike-- Relaxed! A more formal atmosphere of a beach house on the cape threw him a little. It took us about 24 hours of doing inconsequential nothings to convince him. I think he thought I was a complete sluggard when he kept seeing me glued to the same book until I finished it!
He had received a kite for his birthday (this was given so Annie could fly her own and not have to ask Dad for it!) and we packed that. The first activity after unpacking was to get his kite up. I won't tell the "guy thing" story about the ropes here though (what do you think Cindy, should I?) but he had fun.
Day 2 he began to loosen up a bit more and went for fishing supplies to go with the sea pole we packed. He planned an evening fishing trip complete with a tiny dinghy. He and Lianna were gone for a few hours. He also took in many War movies. The Beach house has more channels than we do at home and being Memorial day weekend there was a War movie fest going on. I think it was a "John Wayne fest" in disguise!
Day 3 brought on another fishing expedition complete with a 'God thing'. Lianna and Mike were heading out to fish. Mike had dropped the line of the pole in and was trolling. Lianna only had a string line on a handle. Somehow ( I won't debate the blame here) the seapole got hit with the oar and knocked into the ocean to sink down out of sight. Mike was trying to control his frustration and be the spirit controlled guy by not verbalizing his thoughts and feelings. He told Lianna that they were returning back to the house. Lianna still had her little handle line out and decided to keep it trolling on the way back in hopes of catching a fish. As they proceeded beachward Lianna started getting a tug and thought she had something. Mike told her to start reeling it in but then they realized that she had snagged something pretty solid - not a fish. They backed up and Lianna pulled hard, winding in her handle only to discover that her hook had caught on to the hook on Mike's seapole! Two little hooks in that vast ocean 'happened' to snag onto each other!
That evening Annie and Mike went bike riding. The girls had decided that they really liked the paved bike trail along the Cape Cod Canal. Hey, I even rode it a little way!
We had quite the time finding a restaurant that night after the one we planned on going to had a power outage but because of it we were able to see more of the area and enjoy a wonderful dinner outside!
Day 4 while Annie and I were packing Mike and Lianna went to the canal to ride bikes. They did 13 miles! Mike said he wasn't sure what was going to give out first, his knees, feet or butt! While they were biking Annie and I finished packing and went for a long walk on the beach together.
The biggest evidence of Mike finally relaxing was when he cooperated with the family hula-hoop event (spectacle!!!!- I've seen the pictures- spectacle!!). Yes, folks, Mike hula-hooping! What a mental picture eh? (For purpses of health they better stay mental pictures Cindy!)