The Beach

While we were in Myrtle Beach, we went to the beach twice.  Both kids were super excited.  John wanted to dig a big hole and Gillian wanted to search for shells.  Once the kids were coated in sunscreen, they ran to the ocean.

Luckily it was low tide both days and the kids were able to play in the water.  The beach also formed an awesome sand bar that created a canal for the kids to play in. 

The first day at the beach, Gillian was searching for shells.  She spotted one in the ocean and picked it up.  But she screamed and dropped it.  I quick bent down and picked it up.  It was a big conch shell.  She said "I thought there was a crab in it."  I showed her that it was empty.  She immediately put it to her ear and said "I can hear the ocean!"  She was so excited.  I got a video of her telling the story. 

They built castles and buried my feet. 

They made friends and tried to catch fish in the little canal by the "space bar" (as Gillian liked to call it).  The next time we went to the beach, we stopped and picked the kids up some nets so they could catch some fish.  I think this was their favorite part. 

They had so much fun at the beach!

Another Beach Day

Last Tuesday, we took the kids to the beach. It was just Daddy, Granddad, John, Gillian and I. We got there early and the John immediately started building a sandcastle. 

Gillian seached for shells and rocks and when she found enough she laid them all out on her blanket. She decided she needed to name them all. But there were way too many and she stopped after three. 

The kids spent a lot of time in the water. 

Gillian got knocked down by a wave and I had to catch her, but that didn't stop her. By the end of the day Daddy had her out in the water floating over the waves. 

It was another fabulous day at the beach. 

Beach day

Today we started our stay-cation with a day at the beach. Gillian was super excited. In the car on our way there, Gillian said "It's the beach day!" 

It was a little breezy when we arrived and the waves were really big. The kids immediately put their feet in the water and said to us "You need to get wet!" We told them not yet. They continued to run in and out of the waves. Gillian gave up after a little bit, but John didn't stop. A lifeguard came over and said that the rip current was really bad today and if he wanted to go swimming it had to be in front of the lifeguard tower. 

John gave up on the water and decided to bury my feet.  He worked really hard on burying my feet. I broke free and then buried John's feet (and most of his legs).

Gillian, meanwhile, entertained herself by looking for rocks and making "cupcakes" and singing songs. 

We ended up walking over to go swimming in front of the lifeguard stand. Aunt Betty held Gillian's hand and I held John. John is crazy. He wasn't afraid of any of the waves. He got knocked down a couple of times, but got back up again. He loved it. Gillian fell one time got her hair wet and I thought she was done. But she complained the rest of the time we were at the beach. "I want to go back in the water!" She is tougher than I thought. 

Overall it was a pretty great day at the beach. 

Beach boy

John went to the beach again today with Aunt Betty, Grandma and Grandpa. He is quite the beach bum. He loves to build castles, search for shells (or sand dollars) and just catch some rays. 

But his favorite thing has to be playing in the waves. He spends most of his time at the beach in the water. 

I can't wait to take him tomorrow and play in the sand with my beach boy. 

The sand dollar

In the car this morning, John and I talked about going to the beach. He said "I hope I find a sand dollar." I said "That would be awesome. I never found a sand dollar at the beach." He said "I've seen them one time. You know, when the touch tank was at camp. Did you know that they are alive?" I said "No. I have never seen one that was alive." He said "You know what? If I found one at the beach, then I would just put it back in the ocean. Cause it's alive. I wouldn't want to keep it." He has such a big heart. Then he said "You know what? A sand dollar isn't money. You can't buy anything with it."

The one with the fireworks

On Saturday, we took the kids to Manasquan to see the fireworks. We set up our chairs and blanket and went to get some ice cream. Gillian and I decided to split a vanilla and chocolate twist. John had mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles. I had like two bites of "our" ice cream and Gillian said "That's it. It's mine. You ate too much!" We need to work on sharing. 

I tried to distract her and grab a bite when she wasn't looking but she caught me every time. She only gave up the ice cream when John said "I'm going to build a castle." We went back to the beach and the kids attempted to build a castle. 

They also decided to feel the water. 

 

They couldn't just get their toes wet. They got their pants wet and John also splashed Aunt Betty. Wet pants didn't slow them down. They played in the sand and realized that they couldn't build a castle. So they settled by digging a big hole. Gillian decorated the sand piles with flags. 

As it started to get dark, Gillian kept asking "When's the show going to start?" When the fireworks started she cried and said "I's scared!" She wasn't scared for long because she started to say "Wow! Look at that one! Amazing!" And the she would remember that the booms scared her and she would cry "I'm scared." John, on the other hand, loved the fireworks. He sat with me for awhile and would "predict" where the fireworks would explode. 

The kids had a great time even though it was way past their bedtime. They didn't complain when we had to walk back to the car. And they both fell asleep on the car ride home. 

The beach

Yesterday, John got off the bus and we got in the car and headed to Grandma's house. Then Grandma, John, Justin and I went to the beach. The boys talked about John's camp on our way to the beach. It constantly amazes me how well they get along. Justin is 11 and John is almost 7. The boys found the perfect spot on the beach and they headed right to the water. Justin was on his boogie board while John simply played in the waves. 

After playing in the water, John asked Grandma to help him build a castle. Well that turned into Grandma building the castle while John filled buckets with water. Grandma finished the castle and John dug a moat around it. He then tried to fill the moat with water from his buckets. 

They destroyed the castle, actually Justin did. But then he dug a really big hole. He may have gotten stuck. 

Justin got out of the hole and John got a chance to test it out too!

Then Justin asked "Can we go up to Gee-Gee's and get ice cream? I'll buy!" It's hard to say no to that. So they went up and got some ice cream. John got mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles and Justin got chocolate brownie with chocolate sprinkles. Poor John, his ice cream was melting faster than he could eat it. And he kept spilling it on himself. 

After making a mess with the ice cream the boys went back in the ocean to clean off. They spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the ocean. 

John had a great day with his cousin and his Grandma. I also had a great time hanging out with my mom, my nephew and celebrating John's last day of school!

2nd Anniversary

Two years ago today, I posted my first blog entry.  I started it as a way to remember all the little things my kids say or do.  I hope you enjoyed all the posts from the past year.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Not Daddy



 

 

The Adventures of Buddy the Elf

The Apple Tree

 

 

I talk

 



Wake Up

Costco Adventures

 

 

The Beach

 

 

The Color Run

 

 

The Pink Milkshake

 

 

I hope you enjoyed walking down memory lane with me.  Here's to another year of John & Gill's adventures. 



My little baker

Gillian likes to pretend to bake cakes. Her cakes always have interesting ingredients. We went to the beach on Saturday and Gillian made us some cakes in the sand. As she put sand in her pan, she asked "You like chocolate?" The she would add some sand. "You like sprinkles?" She added chocolate chips and cake and icing. Then it was time for me to taste it. As she handed over the cake, she said "It's just 'tend. Don't eat it!" I "tried" the cake and told her it was delicious. She then started from scratch and made Aunt Betty a cake too. After Aunt Betty enjoyed her orange and pink cake. Gillian made Daddy a cake. "You like brownies?" She certainly knows her audience. Love that my little girl likes to bake. 

Gillian's Adventure

Gillian spent Friday night at Uncle T and Aunt Missy's house.  Aunt Missy came to pick her up.  Gillian was ready before Daddy could get her car seat into Aunt Missy's car.  "I go now?"  I buckled her in the car and gave her a kiss.  I tried to get another kiss, but she had enough.  She wanted to go. 

Aunt Missy told me that they had to stop at the food store to get something for dinner.  At the food store, Gillian conned Aunt Missy into buying donuts.  She hugged the bag saying "I goin to eat them all!"  Gillian also saw some My Little Pony fruit snacks that she had to have.  Next she told Aunt Missy "I need yogurt."  Missy picked up a package of yogurt, and Gillian told her "We don't need all of them.  Just one!"  Aunt Missy explained to her that you had to buy the whole package and you could buy just one. 

Aunt Missy sent me a picture of Gillian eating her ice cream after dinner.  Gillian truly enjoys ice cream and desserts and wants to make sure her whole face gets some too! 

     
In the morning, Uncle T went to check on Gillian.  She was awake in her bed.  Gillian told me "Uncle T wake me up!"  Then she got to watch cartoons and have breakfast with Aunt Missy. 

Gillian and Aunt Missy went to the beach after they had breakfast.  Gillian got to make some new friends and play in the sand.  They even saw some dolphins in the water.  Gillian told me "Them jump out of the water!" 

When I was tucking Gillian into bed on Saturday night, I asked Gillian if she would like to spend the night at Aunt Missy and Uncle T's house again.  She didn't say anything, she just gave me a big smile and a thumbs up. 

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.

 

Planning

We are going to the beach tomorrow. John is planning on building a sandcastle. He wants to put little flags on it or "Just one American flag!" He also wants it to have a moat. Tonight as I was tucking him into bed, he was telling me "I'm going to need a BIG shovel." I told him I have shovels and buckets and castle molds too. He said "Well, we are going to need water and sand too!" I said "We are going to the beach. There will be plenty of water and sand." He said "You're right sister!"

The Beach

Daddy and I decided to take the kids to Manasquan today.  It was our first time to the beach since Hurricane Sandy.  We bundled the kids up and packed them in the car.  In the car, we reminded John about how the hurricance destroyed houses and the beachfront.  We also talked about Gee-Gee's.  For those of you that don't know, Gee-Gee's is a pizza place where Daddy and I met in high school.  We both worked there during the summers.  Gee-Gee's is very important to both of us, not only did we meet there, but we spent countless hours there.  A lot of our memories revolve around that building.  John knows Gee-Gee's as The Pizza Man (simply because employees wear t-shirts with a man holding a pizza).  Anyway, after reminding John that there may be some damage to the places he knows, he said "We can help clean up!"

We arrived at the beach.  Daddy and I wanted to see Gee-Gee's, John on the other hand was more concerned about the big piles of sand.  He kept saying "I'm going to the top of the highest mountain!"  I really didn't think anything of it, and said go ahead.  Then I turned around and noticed that one of the piles of sand by me had glass on it.  I didn't think.  Those piles of sand came from the streets or even from in front of Gee-Gee's where glass and all kinds of other debris were inside of them.  I didn't let John climb the piles by the boardwalk.  I took Gillian and John farther onto the beach so that they could play in the sand.  John was totally interested in all the debris in the sand.  Pieces of wood and wire and anything else.  We specifically told him and Gillian to not touch anything.  They ran up and down the piles of sand and even found a couple of shells.  After playing for a little while, Daddy and I put them back in the car and we drove to the inlet.

When we got to the inlet, John and Daddy started to walk along the rocks.  Since I had Gillian, we stuck to the beach.  We sat and watched a few surfers.  Then Gillian saw John and Daddy on the rocks.  She pointed to them and said "I go there!"  The rocks at the inlet are big and sturdy enough to walk all the way out, but carrying Gillian I was a little unsure.  I took her and walked along the rocks for a little bit.  She kept pointing to John and Daddy, who were about 20 feet ahead of us.  We ended up catching up with them and I handed Gillian off to Daddy.  I grew up in Manasquan, but I had never been that far out on the jetty.  Once Daddy head that I had never been out on the jetty, he made it a goal to get all the way out there.  I stuck with John for the second half.  He really got me worried.  The rocks are big, but there are also some big spaces between the rocks.  John would jump from rock to rock and all I could envision was him falling into the cracks.  He didn't fall.  He did a great job, but he did get Mommy a little worried.  We made it all the way to the concrete at the end of the jetty.  And stopped to take a few pictures. 

I took Gillian on the way back and Daddy took John.  I'm thankful that I had to carry Gillian, because on the way back, the wind started to blow really hard and I almost fell a couple of times.  Daddy had to deal with the wind and a little boy.  Overall, we had a great day at the beach.