The Beach, 495, & 95!

THE BEACH, TAKE 1

The drive to the beach was really nice this year, in part because we listened to a really good story along the way.  It was Because of Winn-Dixie and all the kids liked it.  Any story about a dog tends to be a good one.  We only had about 10 minutes left of the story when we were getting really close to the beach.  The kids were getting quite excited, saying, "I see beach houses." and "Eeeee!!!!"  and I was all like, "Quiet! Let's finish the story!"  So the last ten minutes of the book were a little fuzzy, but it made the trip nice overall.

One look at the beach and we discovered that there was a big sand pumping operation happening that closed off access to the beach in certain areas.

Apparently there was quite the storm that hit that caused a lot of beach erosion.  The first day we went to the beach, we were upwind from big bulldozers and construction equipment, so we enjoyed the ocean, the sand, and watching the boats and pipes pump the sand onto shore.  The second day, we were downwind from the operation and we enjoyed the sand, the ocean, the boats, as well as the faint hint of diesel fuel.  In fact, the second day, we were right on the edge of the construction.  So much of the beach was closed, that a lot of the townsfolk were crowded in a small section of sand.  We set up our chairs right next to the "Construction Site. Do Not Enter" sign.  The neatest thing, we thought, was there was a big, very long pool of shallow water right down the middle of the beach, separating it in half horizontally.

The shallow pool.

It was filled with toddlers and seemed ideal to any parent with small kids to have them play in this nice area as opposed to the big ocean.  We had been in the ocean all day, but when a foamy substance started washing ashore, the lifeguards called us out.  So, we checked out the long pool area before packing it up for the day.  At this point, it was getting later in the afternoon and the construction vehicles had been creeping closer to us all day.  We were actually getting our things packed up when all of a sudden, the pristine, ideal pool of water was being flooded with a blackish water with the same foamy substance on top.  We told the kids, "Run! Get ahead of the foam!  Wait for us on the boardwalk.!"  The kids crossed with no problem.  That left Grandma and I to "run" as fast as we could.  Somehow we actually made it without touching the foam.

Despite all the construction going on, the kids really loved playing at the beach.  Josiah loves both sand and water.  He was an equal opportunity user, but Henry and Caroline were ocean-goers nearly the whole time.  They loved the ocean.

We took a few early morning walks.  On our first walk, the boys pretended they were Jedi's with guns.  We made sure they didn't point them at any people since the northeast hosts a different crowd of people than Texas.

Some serious Jedi.

Our second walk, they brought their lightsaber bats.

Super foggy morning.

Caroline made sure every bench on the entire boardwalk had the backrest towards the back so when sitters sat down, they would face the beach/ocean.

We went down to the beach one evening to get a little digging time in.

We took a trolley ride...

...and we got ice cream.

GREAT GRANDMA'S PARTY

After a few days at the beach, we all got in the car to head to Great-Grandma's 95th birthday bash!  I had google maps directions in my hand and Grandma's 45 years of experience driving to DC from Delaware sitting in the passenger seat.  The trip started out great.  We were making great time and I was a little worried that we'd show up too early to the party.  But then we missed the exit to 495.  A few exits down we tried to get back on the road going the other direction (to catch 495), but could never find an entrance ramp, so we got back on going the same direction we had been headed.  Then we saw another sign that had "Alexandria" on it, so we took it.  That's when we took the kids through parts of DC.  Not the cool monuments parts, more of the lock-your-door Anacostia parts.  When we saw the Woodrow Wilson bridge we all cheered.  We were in familiar territory again and, as an added benefit, we no longer had to worry about being early anymore.  It was so good to see Great-Grandma again and wish her a happy birthday on her actual birthday.

The kids were so excited to see all their aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents.  They couldn't wait to meet their new cousins, Jack and Rowen.  They kept saying they wanted to hear what their voices sounded like.  The cousins all played outside together, having a great time getting to know each other.  They also got to play on the playground across the street.  Josiah practiced his physics lessons there by putting big wheels down the slide and watching gravity take effect.  He also rode on a big wheel downhill, turning it quickly so it would skid to a halt.  He had a great time doing it until later, at the hotel, he discovered that it had given him quite a bum-bruise.

Caroline tuckered out towards the end, having played hard all day, but she wasn't too tired to keep eating chips.

Many pictures were taken.   

All the Great Grandkids

When we checked into the hotel that evening, the man at the desk cut me a deal and gave us two rooms for the price of one.  So for the four of us, we had two king beds and two bathrooms.  Todd asked me if I was still wearing my party dress when I checked into the hotel.  Why, yes, I was, and it was worth it to get two bathrooms.  Henry loved that when the adjoining doors were opened, he could do mirror tricks.


The next day I drove back to the beach with the kids (Grandma drove back with Grandpa this trip).  Instead of getting on 495 (again!), I got on 395 (durn google) and took the kids on my own tour of D.C.  At least this time we saw a few monuments as well as the Pentagon.  So, now they can say they went to D.C. twice over their summer break. 

THE BEACH, TAKE 2: WHEN THE REAL FUN BEGAN

The beach got a lot more fun when their cousins arrived.  All of a sudden, all 6 kids were running around outside and it felt like freedom.  They played baseball, football, tag, lightsaber battles, just about everything you could think of with a bat and a couple of balls.  Caroline fell in love with Lucy's dolls and playing them with her. 

We did Pirate Golf...

surfed (got knocked down by) the waves...

dug holes...

went through a case of Pop-Its in 10 minutes flat...

and took the obligatory "grandkids" pictures.

Our kids showed off their Cambodian clothes while posing with their Cambodian cash.

For their final night ice cream, Henry chose the waffle cone, Caroline chose sprinkles, and Josiah opted for candy, mostly the gummy variety.  

Caroline literally ate just the sprinkles and said she didn't want the ice cream.  It was for the best because those sprinkles came back up at midnight.  After throwing up quite a bit, Caroline mumbled, "too many sprinkles."  Fortunately, she wasn't sick with a virus, just a too-much-vacation-junk-food sick.  But that was the end of the beach vacation.  We packed up the next morning and headed back to Hampton, with a slight apology to my brother and his wife for the less-than-fresh bed they were going to takeover.  

The Drive to Virginia

At the beginning of the week, we spent a lot of time doing laundry, packing, and trying to clean the house, because by the end of the week we were in Virginia (and it's always nice to come back to a clean house).  As we drove through Houston one evening, Caroline quizzically asked, "Does God's hands get tired...[looking around at the city] ...because there are so many things?"  It was a cute question.  I asked her if she was thinking about the song, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."  She was, and so we talked about literal and figurative language.

The kids were so excited about the drive to Virginia.  The night before we left, Caroline literally could not sleep she was so excited.  She came to visit Todd at 1:15 a.m., me at 3:00 a.m. and Todd again at 3:30 a.m.  It was a bit rough when our alarms were set for 4:00 a.m.  A full seven miles into our drive, as we were passing the Imperial Sugar Factory in Sugar Land, before we even made it onto a highway, Caroline spotted a hotel.  "Is that our hotel?"  No, sweetie, our hotel is in another 693 miles.

The drive went better for the kids in part because they had Grandad & Nana's old phones to keep them occupied.  They played all sorts of Angry Bird games, completely running down their batteries.  They were a tremendous help in keeping them less bored.  The first day they ran their batteries down earlier than expected, so the second day Henry was adamant that he was going to wait until South Carolina before he turned on his phone.  Both boys waited.  Caroline made it to Georgia.


We remembered to bring Henry's bed sheet for the car ride this year.  He had such a good time with it last year, creating a little tent for himself.  But this year, Caroline and Josiah took it over and made a double tent for themselves.  It involved lots of yelling, "Don't pull it so hard."  and "You're taking it all."  but for a while, they had a double tent area.  It was always nice for everyone, because they were quieter when in their tents.  Next year, 3 sheets.

By the second day of driving, we did our usual talk of flying next year.  We made it to Grandad and Nana's by the evening time, and the kids literally ran out of the car to say hello.  They were so, so excited to see them again.  Todd and I got out of the car like crotchety old people, needing to stretch our aching muscles and seeking a silent room with a soft bed.

Grandad and Nana surprised all the kids with remote control cars, which they have loved zooming around their circle.

We have played lots of baseball in the backyard.

They saw Grandad and Nana's neighbor again, and the boys have enjoyed playing with Bryce.  Caroline has fallen in love with his little sister who is only four months old.  She would love a baby sister.  Whenever she spots the mom outside, she runs towards her in hopes of seeing the baby.

We tried to have a fun trip to Colonial Williamsburg to learn some history and see what life was like in the 1700's.  We didn't buy tickets, we just wanted to walk down the main street and potentially walk on William & Mary's campus.  Josiah started out having a good time and was enjoying looking at things, until he kept wanting to go in every building and I would have to say, "That's a private residence."  "You need a ticket to go in that one."  Unfortunately, what ended up happening was we could only go in the merchant shops, so then Josiah wanted to buy something from all the shops and wasn't happy when we kept saying no (because Josiah is a persistent little fellow and will ask for absolutely everything in the store and not just once or twice).  So, his happy mood changed to an insolent teenager.

Caroline was doing fine until her shoes gave her a blister and she was unable to walk any longer.  She acted a bit like an amputee.

Henry acted like a sulky teenager the moment he got in the car to drive to Williamsburg.  He didn't want to go, he didn't want to do anything, he didn't want to be in any pictures, he didn't want to read any of the plaques, he didn't want to participate.  There was a bit of a dichotomy between what we idealized the trip would look like in our head versus the reality of the trip.  With all the attitudes and unkind/disrespectful words, we skipped our lunch plans, skipped the walk through W&M, and just went back home to Grandad and Nana's.  There they had the audacity to ask to do their phones/iPad.  Uh, no.

Caroline acting dead.

The next day, Saturday, they were happy that we weren't going anywhere.  They just wanted to play with Grandad and Nana, which was just fine with us.  There are very nice neighbors on Grandad and Nana's street and one walked Caroline around her whole back yard, showing her all the plants and flowers she's growing, as well as a vegetable garden.  Caroline ate it all up and came home with a big bouquet of flowers.

Nana surprised the kids with blankets she knitted for each of them in their favorite colors.

They are having a very fun time.  I had plans to do more museums/farms this coming week, but if they only want to play with Grandad and Nana, we may just skip the plans.  That and Josiah keeps trying to kick me out of the house.  "Mommy, do you want to take a walk by yourself?"  "You can go get us milk." "When are you going to leave?"  Are you trying to get me out of the house, child?  He always vigorously nods his head.  One of the nicest parts of our Virginia vacation is sleeping in.  I hear Grandad and Nana getting the kids breakfast, and though I know I should get up, I don't exactly get up quickly.  It is nice to sleep.     

So that is week one.

School's Out

For Memorial Day, we spent the afternoon at a real Texas bar-b-que in our friend's backyard.  It was a picnic with all friends from Awana.  It was about 97° and 97% humidity, so the adults all huddled under a shaded tent in the middle of their backyard with a giant fan blowing on us.  The kids ran around the yard and played on their big water slide/bounce house thing.  It was a really nice time.  It was so nice that I only took 4 pictures total.  It was only when Henry sat still because he cut his foot that we got two of our four pictures.  The kids were worn out by the time we got home.  Although they slept all night, they still woke up tired the next morning.  Not the best start to our last 3 days of school.  It was a bit like pulling teeth to get them going.  They didn't fully commit to the "let's finish our year well" mantra I had going.

But, finish the school year with mediocre interest and attitudes we did.  [Insert HUGE sigh of relief that we are done.]  I made the kids take the obligatory picture by the tree, so  I could compare it to the start of school photo.  Caroline wore one of her "fancy" dresses.  You may not think that neon green pants goes with a black and white polka dotted dress, but what you can't see is that there are small white polka dots on her green leggings.  Polka dots match each other, hence the pairing.

August - the beginning of school:

May - the end of school:

Before that last picture was taken, we took a picture with Caroline's friend that came to visit that same day.  We had to get in one last play time before they moved to North Texas.  We are really sad to see them go.  Caroline was good friends with their little girl and Henry absolutely adored her little brother.  (I thought their mom was pretty awesome, too.)  Henry followed him around everywhere with just a sweet smile on his face.  Caroline said, "We need to have another one [baby]."   

This visit, Josiah played Titanic on the window.  They were talking through their squigg radios and sending out SOS signals.  Josiah is very much into the Titanic right now.  He's read multiple books and watched a few movies on it.  He knows the wireless operators names, the Captain's name, the designer of the ship.  He can tell you all about it.  He clearly has some of Grandpa's blood flowing through his veins.

Aunt Claire came to visit again.  Technically she came for a conference, but we always like to believe that she came just to see us!  She knew she was loved and missed because when she rang our doorbell, there were high-pitched squeals and screams and "Aunt Claire is here!!!!" being shouted from little ones.
We got to take her out for her birthday.  The kids have wanted to take her to Smashburger since her last visit.  They also all wanted to sit next to her, so halfway through dinner Claire rotated positions so she could spend equal amounts of time with each child.  So much love.  We've nicknamed her "Fair Claire" because she spends equal amounts of time with the kids.

Cake was had by all.

Josiah read about 100 Garfield comics to her.  "Hey, listen to this one..."  "Oh, this one's good..."  50 pages later... "This one's really funny..."  "Look at this one..."

Caroline, always forward-thinking, asked Claire if she could have her pretty pill case when Claire died.  Claire said that'd be fine.  So, Caroline tried her luck again and asked her if she could have her phone when she died, too.  Claire said, "yes," to that, too.  If Caroline requests too much, she's going to force Claire to write up a will.  Shy, she is not.

We finished out the week with a birthday party for friends from karate.  The family has seven children.  At the beginning of the party there were three families (including ours) and 14 children!  (I think I was a deer-in-headlights for the first 15 minutes with all the kids running every which way.)  It was a movie themed party, so after hot dogs, chips and guac (it is Texas), and deviled eggs, they started the movie.  All the kids were given chocolate birthday cake and then they passed out popcorn and movie sized candy boxes.

They sat for the movie for about 20 minutes and then slowly, one-by-one, they got up to go play.  At the end there was one lonesome girl left watching it.  The boys were running around outside drenched in sweat.  When we drove home that evening, Josiah thought he was going to get sick in the car.  I can imagine after all that junk food and then running around, I'd feel pretty sick, too.  They had a great time and didn't want to leave.  Caroline let us know she didn't want to leave with a high-pitched scream that she was not going to put her seat belt on. 

For whatever reason the attitudes around here have gotten a bit out of control lately.  Claire got to experience that first hand yesterday.  We've told the kids that it's going to be a really boring summer if they can't talk to us and each other with respect and a kind tone of voice.  They got a taste of it after church today when they spent the afternoon cleaning their rooms/playroom and then quietly reading in separate rooms.  They are so competitive with each other that instead of encouraging their sibling, they just want to take them down in any way they know how - verbally, physically, etc.  We're praying for our trip back east that it it isn't an attitude explosion nightmare.  We're slightly nervous at this point.  However, the kids are excited to see all their grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, and friends again.  We're hoping the excitement lasts all 22 hours of the car ride.