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!

The pool

We went to a pool party yesterday.  Gillian was prepared to go swimming and wore her new goggles in the car on our way there.  She didn't end up using them in the pool.  I guess they are just fun accessories.

John showed us some of his new swimming abilities.  He also jumped in the pool. He totally has no fear of the water.

Aker Aquatics

This afternoon, we were invited to the Aker's house (Aunt Missy's Mom & Dad's house) to go swimming.  John wanted to go swimming as soon as we got there, but he waited until Uncle T could watch him.  Once Uncle T was ready, John ;jumped right into the pool to show Uncle T all his new swimming moves.  And that's when it began.  That's all John did for the rest of the day.  He jumped into the pool, swam to the side, climbed out and jumped back in.  I gave him one rule, to watch out for Gillian and Grandma Aker.  He was very careful to not jump on top of anyone, but no one was safe from his splashes. 

Uncle T asked "How about you jump off the diving board?"  John said "No Way!  I'm not jumping off the diving board!"  But he continued to jump off the side of the pool.  Uncle T convinced him to move along the side of the pool closer and closer to the deep end.  Uncle T asked him again "How about you jump off the diving board?"  John again said "No Way!  I'm not doing it!"  But Daddy talked to him.  I'm not sure what was said but before we realized it, John was standing on the diving board.

And he loved it.  He loved it so much, he did it again. 

Since he wasn't afraid of the diving board anymore, Uncle T asked "Why don't you go down the slide?"  John said "Well it's not wet."  Uncle T said "I'll get it wet.  Don't worry about that.  Are you going to go down the slide?"  John surprised all of us and went over to the slide.  I honestly thought that he would chicken out when he climbed the ladder, but he didn't. 

He only went down the slide once, but he must have jumped off the diving board a dozen or more times.  Gillian swam the entire time.  Well, I take that back.  She would get out of the pool occasionally make me take off her lifejacket so that she could grab a quick snack and then want to jump back in.  We tried to get her to jump off the side, but that didn't work.  Maybe next time. 

Pool Day

On Friday, Daddy took us to Crystal Springs. Crystal Springs is a family water park run by East Brunswick parks and recreation. Crystal Springs has a kiddie pool, a lazy river, three water slides, a lap pool and a shallow recreation pool.

We got there early on Friday morning and found some chairs under a big umbrella. We walked around and decided to go on the lazy river first. John had his own tube, but Gillian rode with me. Gillian was hilarious. She loved the tube and also tried to splash me and Aunt Betty! The boys went around once and were done. Betty and I wanted another ride. So we handed off Gilly and headed back around. When we found Daddy and the kids, Gillian was in tears. She wanted to go down the kiddie slide, but wasn't allowed to wear her life vest. She felt like she was in trouble and after that was afraid to go back down the slide. 

We headed back to the shallow recreation pool (also the pool right by our chairs). The kids swam. And we got to see all of John's new swimming skills he learned at camp. John was afraid to put his head under water at the beginning of the summer. He is now swimming underwater! I'm impressed. 

After swimming a little while, John wanted to try out the lily pads. They have a pool that has a cargo net overhead that the kids grab while trying to walk on floating lily pads. John had a hard time but he completed it! Gillian was not too happy. She was too small to try the lily pads. After that we checked out the water slides. You needed to be a minimum of 48 inches. John is 48 and Gillian is 42. Once again, she was not happy to find out that she couldn't go on the slide. We waited for the boys to come down. Unfortunately they came down the steps and not the slide. The attendant said that John was too short. It's a little frustrating, but Gillian was melting down. So it was easier that both could not go on the slides. 

We went back to the lazy river and this time Gillian rode with Aunt Betty. John was ahead of Daddy and I. And when we finally caught up, we found out that he made friends with the family on the tubes in front of us. He cracks me up. 

We again went back to our pool and the kids went in and out of the water.   

We went back to the kiddie pool and Gillian finally went down the slide!

 

It was a great day at the pool!

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. 

Underwater

John's camp is not far from my office and I get the pleasure of dropping and picking him up everyday. Most days when I pick up he gives me the run down of what happened at camp. Today, I asked "How was camp today?" He said "I don't want to talk now. I'll tell you at dinner." I said "Okay. Just tell me, was it a good day or a bad day?" He said "Good." He was really quiet for about half the car ride. I couldn't take it. So I asked him about a blow up dome that they had a camp today. He said "It was for color wars. We had to get all the balls on the other side of the dome. And you had to throw them. You couldn't cross a line." And that's all it took. So he started to tell me about his day. He said "Mom. You know what? I can spin underwater!" Let me sidetrack for a moment, swimming lessons are included in John's camp. At the beginning of the summer he was afraid to put his face underwater. When we met his swim instructor at the camp barbecue, he said the same thing. John has been getting more and more comfortable putting his head underwater over the past few weeks. So when he says he can spin underwater, I was very impressed. He then followed it up with, "I opened my eyes underwater today! I couldn't see good." I am so proud. Not only is he getting over his fear of putting his face in the water, but he opened his eyes too!

First day of camp

Today was John's first day at Briar Hill camp. Since his camp is close to my office, I get to drop and pick him up. We arrived at camp and I walked in with John. He dropped his bag and immediately went over to a boy that way playing. I checked him in, gave him a quick kiss and walked out the door. And that's when it hit me. He's not a baby anymore. He was ready for this next step. I wasn't. 

I picked him up from camp. When I arrived, he was in the middle of a group of kids watching a movie. I signed him out and we headed to the car. Before I could ask him about his day he said "I didn't get to do the zip line." I had to laugh. There's no way that they would get to do everything on the first day! Anyway, as we walked to the car, John pointed it a tree that his group decorated with yarn. He told me "We got to see a show. That guy could juggle! But we didn't go on that playground over there (as he pointed out the window). And can you make sure I get a snack for the afternoon?" He was a little all over the place. I asked him a few questions, "tell me about the bunny barn." He said "The bunny barn is were we meet. And you know what? There are two games. One is a racing game. And the other, you aren't going to believe this it's a golf game!" We talked about the video games for a little bit and then he was quiet for awhile. He broke the silence and said "I wish I got a deep water bracelet." I said "Yes. It would be great. But you are just learning to swim. And you will have plenty of time to get a deep water bracelet." He seemed to be okay with that and started telling me about how he got to go in the pool twice and the splash park once. He also got an orange ice pop for a snack! Sounds like a pretty awesome first day of camp to me!

Swimming

Yesterday, we spent the day at Aunt Missy's parent's house. The Akers (or DaBakers as Gilly says) have a pool and we were lucky to be invited over to BBQ and swim. The kids didn't waste any time and were in the pool within minutes of our arrival (which means mommy was too). Gillian insisted that we put every raft and noodle possible in the pool. We had more rafts than people!

John splashed Gillian in the face. Gillian was not happy and she got out of the pool and sat on a lounge chair. She pouted for a little bit and then said to me "My face is not wet. Can I go back in?" It's hard to argue with that. She came back in the pool and swam a little more. She took another break later to have a snack. I laid out a towel for her and she had a little picnic. 

At some point she asked Mrs. Aker, "Where's Aunt Missy's room?" Mrs. Aker showed Gillian and all that did was spark more questions. "Why are the walls blue and green?" "Why she no live here anymore?" "Why does she have so much junk?" And then somehow Gillian ended up with a new pink teddy bear! She told me "I like him!"

Meanwhile, John was happily swimming all over the pool. He didn't get out until he was hungry. He ate a hot dog and some tater tots and went back into the pool. They were content to have the whole pool to themselves. 

We had a great time! Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying the pool!

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.

 

Waterlogged

John and Gillian spent the night at Mimi and Poppy's house last night. Daddy and I went to pick them up and found them playing in Mimi's backyard on John's big water slide. They were so excited to see us and tell us about their night. After a quick hello, John showed us how he went down the slide (Last year he was a little unsure, check out last summer's blog post called "Water slide."). While we were watching the kids play, Mimi got a call from Uncle T. Uncle T and Aunt Missy were at Aunt Missy's parents house and we were all invited too. We let the kids play for a little bit longer. Gillian finally got the nerve to try the slide. She did it once and landed in the water and said "Yes!" She loved it. But only when she was by herself without a big audience. 

Gillian does not like to be in a wrt bathing suit. If she is out of a pool for longer than two minutes then she wants out if her bathing suit too. Before we went to Aunt  Missy's parents house, Gillian asked to be changed. When we arrived at Aunt Missy's parents house John and Daddy went right into the pool. I had to convince Gillian to put on her bathing suit (or bath-ing suit as she would say). I got her in her suit, but she was unsure about going in the pool. Aunt Missy found Gillian some chips and she happily sat in a chair and ate her chips (and didn't share). 

John, on the other hand, was swimming all over the pool. He made friends with Aunt Missy's Aunt Maryann. With the help of Aunt Maryann John swam easily fifty laps. Gillian finally joined us in the pool. She swam all over the pool too. We pulled the kids out of the pool to eat. They both ate dinner. And John was dying to go back in the pool. I told him he had to wait until an adult was in the pool. The second an adult had their toes wet John asked me "Can I go now? Please?" He went back in the pool and had a great time with less people in the pool. He wasn't afraid to just swim everywhere. 

Again we pulled John out of the pool but this time for cake. He ate his cake and again asked to go in the pool. This time he went in the pool without his floatation device. He can touch in the low end, but he gets very nervous and worried that water will hit him in the face. Since this was now his third time in the pool today he was very brave and didn't get scared when more people joined him in the pool. Gillian also joined John in the pool. She didn't have her floaties on either. Aunt Missy gave her a raft to sit on. She kept showing off the raft to anyone who would listen "Look at my new thing!" "It's for princesses!" "I just laying here!" She was shaking and I decided to pull her out of the pool. She was not happy with my decision. She was also not happy that John climbed onto her raft. "It's for princesses, not brothers!"

Kick!

We took the kids to Aunt Missy's parents house today to go swimming. It was our first time in a big pool this summer. John was super excited to go in the water. But once he was in, he got a little nervous. He forgot that he could touch the bottom on the low end and that his vest would keep his head above the water. We reminded him of these two things and he was off. 

Last summer, Gillian was a water baby. She wasn't afraid of the water. She would just jump in and not pay attention to who was around her. Daddy and I bought her a new floatation device. It goes around her belly and on her arms too like swimmies.  She was a little unsure when she went in the water the first time. But I coached her and told her to kick her feet while she held my hands. After about five trips across the pool she was confident. She was jumping off the edge of the pool to Daddy and swimming without holding onto anyone. As she swam she would say "Kick, kick, kick!" She also found it necessary to tell us to "Kick!" 

Gillian and I swam across the pool to the deep end. She climbed up the ladder and out of the pool. I assumed that she was headed to the steps in the low end, but she went right to the diving board. She climbed up and stood at the edge. She jumped right to Daddy. She did go underwater for a few seconds and was a little shocked. But that didn't stop her. She climbed the ladder again and stood on diving board. I ran to get my phone to video tape it. I took too long and she chickened out. She got off the diving board and walked to steps in the low end of the pool. As her feet hit the water she stopped and said "I peep! I peeped!" She was shocked and a little embarrassed. We reassured her that she wasn't the first person to pee in a pool. 

We all got out of the pool for a little bit and then John went in all by himself. He swam all over the pool while Gillian and I tried to spray him with a water gun. I sat at one end is the pool and aim at him. While Gillian would get up walk all the way around the pool to where John was and then spray him. 

We had so much fun. Thanks to Aunt Missy and her family for letting us play in the pool. 

Beach Day

School was closed on Friday.  I asked Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Betty to watch the kids for the day.  Since Grandma and Grandpa go to the beach everyday they decided to take the kids with them in the morning.  Aunt Betty didn't have school on Friday so she joined them.  Also, Aunt Trish had the week off, so Aunt Trish, Sammie and Kyle also went to the beach. 

I dropped the kids off at Grandma's already dressed in their bathing suits along with some beach toys, towels and a couple of changes of clothes.  I left them in capable hands, and I headed to work. 

A few hours into my day, I received the picture below.  They were already at the beach having fun.  

   
When I picked them up later, I was very anxious to hear all about their day especially their adventure at the beach.  John carried his bag of toys to and from the beach (I warned John that when you go to the beach with Grandma, you have to carry your own stuff.  If you can't carry it, you can't bring it).

John and Gillian loved the water.  John originally told me "I don't want to get my bathing suit wet!"  But according to Grandma, he was in and out of the water all morning long.  And on one of the trips in the water with Aunt Trish, they had to go under a wave.  I know my John was not happy about getting water in his face, but he survived and continued to go in the water.  Grandma told me that he was not a good listener.  Grandma need a short break.  So she told John that he could play in the sand but he could not go in the water without her.  She sat down and before she knew it he was at the water.  He wasn't paying attention and got hit by a wave.  He fell down face first, but got back up again.  John wasn't the only one that had an adventure in the water.  Gillian and Aunt Betty had to go under two waves back to back.  

Overall I think they had a fabulous day at the beach with their cousins, grandparents and aunts.  I asked John if he wanted to go to the beach again.  He said "Yes.  But not that beach.  The water is salt water!"  I told him that all the ocean water is salt water.  He looked at me completely shocked "All the ocean water in the whole world is salt water?!? Oh Man!"
   

Water Baby

We took the kids swimming today. We put Gillian in a tube similar to John's swim vest. Basically it's a tube with a vest. Gillian loved it. She wasn't afraid to get her face wet. As a matter of fact, she constantly put her face in the water. The big benefit of this tube is that she could swim around the pool and I didn't have to hold her. She did awesome. She also jumped off the side of the pool. She is not afraid of anything.

John did great too. He remembered a lot of what he was taught in his swim lessons. He swam all throughout the pool. He was not as courageous as Gillian. He did not jump off the side. But he did an awesome job swimming.