Fourth of July...in the digital age

My sister, brother and I are spending time together this weekend on St. George Island. My new husband and I, my sister, her husband, her 2 and a half year old daughter and her dog, and my 24 year old brother are taking our first vacation together without our parents.
Up until about 5 years ago, going to St. George was an adventure. We would fill coolers with groceries in Tallahassee; we would let everyone know that we would be unreachable and then we would disengage. We never knew what was happening off of the island, and we didn’t really care either. It was great, but it was a little difficult to catch up when we returned.
As we ate our breakfast this morning, I noticed how different it is today. We were listening to a new band my brother had downloaded onto his I-pod. My brother-in-law checked Facebook on his laptop, using the wireless network at the beach house. He checked in with neighbors and friends in Tampa and caught up with family in Miami. My husband and brother watched clips of the first days of the Tour de France on my brother’s Mac. Then my husband checked in to his online strategy game that he has been playing for almost a year with people all over the world. My sister had already checked her email and the top stories of the morning so she cut up the watermelon while I finished my coffee getting ready to work on EME 6635. Before they left for the beach, my niece and I watched a short Clifford video on YouTube.
It may seem disappointing that we are at the beach on a beautiful day and we are still plugged in. But, we have maintained a balance with technology. Since we were wireless, we were able to be in the same room. At times our web use added to our conversations like how Lance is doing in the race or how the fireworks were at home. The distractions were mild and accepted.
I think that as new technologies are introduced and become easier to use and gain access to, it is important that we use them to enhance our lives, not weaken or diminish. Gone are the days of pasty skin and blue eyeballs from being in front of the computer for hours at a time.
Now, I am alone working on my school work, at the beach! Before I would have missed out on the whole weekend, but now, I am just missing out on a short time at the beach before lunch and nap time.
When the family gets back we are going to start preparing for our belated cookout. My parents are coming down with the charcoal. We have burgers, hot dogs and veggies to grill as well as green salad and potato salad to make. I told my sister that while I had brought the potatoes and onion, and she had the mayo, I didn’t have a recipe for potato salad. To which she responded, “We have 3 laptops and the Internet, we can do anything!”