Our annual family vacation doesn’t officially begin for me until our first family dinner.

We have visited the same group of restaurants on our yearly vacations for the 25+ years we have gathered in Daytona Beach. The group has seen some come and some go, but regardless we always have a nice-sized crew to enjoy our meals together. Last night we took our first dinner outing at Park’s – one of my grandfather’s favorites.

After perusing the menu, nothing really stood out to me for my dinner. Since I couldn’t make up my mind, I ended up deciding to split a couple of dishes with my lovely sister.

I actually really like sharing dishes with someone because then I can sample more than one thing. Too bad both dishes weren’t too appealing.

We split an order of broiled scallops in a spinach hollandaise sauce and crab stuffed shrimp. The scallops ended up a little flavorless and the stuffed shrimp had very little crab meat. Meh. At least the margaritas were good.

Wait. Make that great.

I ended up with two…and a slight buzz. I couldn’t turn down a second. These were perfect. They had quite the bite to them, which I love. I hate a super-sweet, mix-tasting margarita. Give me the tequila por favor. Ahem. When on vacation, right? 😉

Now that we had the official beginning to our vacation, we could wake up today and get a jump on our beach action. We hit the beach early, around 8 am, in order to get in a decent amount of beach time.

For the record, I don’t think a sweeter picture exists than this little moment I captured….

After getting sufficiently sandy (seriously how do kids get sand basically caked into their skin?!), we headed in for lunch and naps. With two little ones we sadly end up spending a few of our mid-day hours indoors. Although since I have to embrace my pale ways, it works. It also gives me ample time to prepare (and share) a delicious lunch.

At the beach, I must have a light and refreshing lunch. Today’s made my stomach all sorts of happy. I had a sandwich made with ham, swiss cheese, avocado, spinach, tomato, and mustard. Along with cherries and carrots.

I about busted out a happy dance in the grocery store when I saw these cherries on sale. I scored them for $2.24/lb – way better than the $4/lb I typically find. I will relish these little balls of fruit this week. Just as I plan to relish the sand and waves. Time for more beach fun! And a crazy evening tonight. It will include costumes, funny stories, and food from the 1940s. You just wait.

• Is there a certain grocery item you love but will only buy when a good deal?
• Do you like sharing meals or ordering your own thing?

I spent today feeling fatigued, dizzy, and nauseous. It appears something has hit me hard and suddenly. Peter’s feeling a watered down version of the same random headache, nauseous sensations so perhaps we ate something bad? If I didn’t know better, I would think I’m pregnant. But I’m not. So whatever has caused this, I hope it passes quickly. I have things to do!

Like packing for our upcoming beach trip.

I can hardly believe we leave this Saturday. I can also hardly believe the vast amount of stuff we will need to fit in my trunk – beach tent, pack & play, toys, suitcases, baby junk, baby junk, baby junk.  Did I mention baby junk?

I had hoped to get started on my massive pre-vacation to-do list today. You know – cleaning, laundry, setting aside things to pack, errands for last minute items, etc. Instead, I spent the day laying around to keep from passing out. Every time I stood up, I felt like I would collapse from dizziness. Thank goodness Peter works from home on Wednesdays to help take care of me. And feed me french toast.

Whenever I get sick I crave french toast like my mom used to make - cooked up plain and then sprinkled with a spoonful of powdered sugar. I added a banana and peanut butter on the side to help fill me up. Despite the nausea, I felt very hungry. Like I said, I would think I’m pregnant. And no, I’m truly not pregnant.

Besides french toast to hopefully help me feel better, I also managed a green smoothie later in the day because greens can’t hurt.

Fact: drinking a green smoothie from a wine glass gives them extra powers. Or at the very least, makes them more fun. Fact # 2: my wine glasses see more green smoothie action than wine action. I would say I should change that and pour myself a glass right now, but in all honesty, I just want my bed and a book. And more french toast for dinner. And a maid. And a tan for the beach. And a professional packer for all the baby junk. Yea…I can’t be pregnant. We have no room in my trunk for that.

• What takes up most of your packing room when you travel?
• Don’t forget to enter for the chance to create a custom racing sign!