The Beach

first time in the water

Gillian putting her toes in the water

The kids school was closed yesterday, and we decided to take them to the beach.  We met Aunt Betty in Manasquan around 9 am.  John and Gillian were so excited.  They ran down the beach right to the water. Gillian stopped before they reached the water.  John, on the other hand, went right into the water.  We were only able to get Gillian to put her toes in the water if we were holding both of her hands at the same time.  We spent a little bit of time in the water then we started working on a sandcastle. 

John and his castle

John has been planning on building a sandcastle all week.  He wanted his castle to have a moat and towers and a flag on top.  We were able to build a nice foundation for his castle along with a moat.  But John wasn't happy.  He wanted there to be water in the moat.  When that didn't happen, he got very frustrated.  We placed a flag on top of the castle and the kids went back to play in the water.  John spent majority of our time on the beach in the water.  He jumped over the waves.  He punched the waves.  He tried to body surf.  Uncle Bob and Justin joined us too.  When the Justin and Uncle Bob arrived, they joined us in the water.  John tried to use Justin's boogie board, but he fell off very quickly.  I think it was because his hands were super pruney from being in the water all day.  When he fell off, he went under water.  He wasn't too happy about that, so that was the last time he tried to ride any waves on the boogie board.  It didn't stop him from having Justin pull him on the boogie board in the little waves at the shore. 

Foreman Gillian watching construction

Gillian got Uncle Bob to make her a little pool.  She loved watching everyone dig for her, but refusted to go into it until it was "full."  Luckily the waves helped with that and in no time she had water in her little pool.

Not happy about the water level

 After Gillian had her little pool, everyone again went back into the water.  We only took a short break for lunch.  John went up the Gee-Gee's with Uncle Bob and Justin.  Surprisingly he came back to our spot on the beach with blue and pink spots on his face.  All around his mouth.  He can't keep a secret, so he confessed when we questioned him.  "I had Italian Ice!  And we didn't even use spoons!" 

Finally, I had to tell John that it was time to leave.  He wasn't happy at all.  Well either was Justin.  I can't blame them, they were having an awesome time.  In the car on the way home, we asked John what was his favorite part of the day.  He said "Well, it's so hard.  There were so many good things!"  I call that a successful beach day.