We are going to the coast again...thank goodness my parents have a beach house!
Ok, before anyone starts thinking "ooh, how hoity-toity" or anything, I'll give a bit of a back story.
My grandparents (maternal) were very wealthy. At one point they owned the house we lived in in Portland (rent free because we were living below the poverty level with my dad making $150 a week as a pastor...without that house we'd have been in a shelter), a cabin in the mountains in CA, an empty lot in the same area, a house in SanJose, and a beach house in Balboa, CA (VERY wealthy area...my great grandfather built the house). They eventually sold the SanJose house and the one in Portland when my parents were finally able to get their own place. Anyway, my grandmother died, and then my grandfather. The estate was huge! There are only 4 kids in the family to split it between too. The beach house for example went for 2.7 million.
My mom grew up visiting her grandparents at the beach house every summer, and regularly inbetween (her grandfather had become a millionaire during the depression...seems everyone in her family is wealthy but my part!). The best memories in her life are from there. Because of that she always always has wanted a beach house. Well that and the fact that she is never happier than when she is at the ocean. So, with her part of the estate, instead of buying a new car or paying off the house they live in, they found a beach house to buy. They didn't use all the money, just put a nice down payment on it, bought some furnishing (yay Ikea!), and then put the rest in savings to give her a bit of an "allowance" to spend for groceries and emergencies and occasional splurges. My dad is still a pastor. I'm the treasurer at the church (make a whopping $100.00 a month for it
). I have occasionally had to not pay my dad and myself because the church needed to pay electricity. My parents have their head above water, but will likely never retire. So, even though they have a beach house, they still qualify as lower middle class. Just seems posh.
Anyhoo...I think for some insane reason I feel guilty if anyone might think I'm rich like all my mom's family (both my mom's brothers own places in Hawaii as well as the homes they live in and I know one other has another spot as well) and much of my dad's. Don't ask me why...I have no logical explanation.
So...we'll be there Fri-Mon. Then, school starts on Tuesday. I'll be a total puddle probably because my youngest is starting pre-school. I'm worried about him because he's PAINFULLY shy as well as has comprehension delays. The teachers all know him as the school is part of our church (a Montessori school too which should help him out a bit) but I'm still worried.
there...me taking a heck of a lot of time to write "going to the beach and then the kids are starting school".