Sun, sand and surf

I woke up this morning and just felt like I needed to escape the city and the heat.  (I needed to move the car anyway since it was street cleaning day.)  Before I could think twice about it I frantically packed up everything I would need for the beach, made lunch, slathered sunscreen on the kids and myself and headed out the door! 

During the 45 minute trip to Jones Beach I thought one of two things.  This could either go incredibly smoothly or it could be a disaster.  We arrived at the beach at 10:30 and found a nice little spot close to the water. 

Mikey was really excited as this was his first time at a true bathing beach.  We have been to the beach and coast line before in New Hampshire however the beaches up there are rocky and have freezing water.  This was also Katie's first time at the beach.  Mikey loved the waves crashing and was playing catch me if you can with the waves.  Katie was happy to play in the sand for the first time!  (When we go to the playgrounds I have kept her in the stroller and wouldn't let her play in the sand until now.)

Katie loved feeling the super fine and clean sand in between her fingers and Mikey quickly made friends with kids around us so he could play with their toys (even though I brought plenty of beach toys with me, it seems like others toys are much more appealing!).

I lasted almost 3 hours there before, the sun and heat got to me and the kids.  I didn't feel comfortable going into the ocean holding 2 kids by myself.  The waves were big and the tide was strong and Mikey kept running around amongst the crowds, so I constantly had to chase/follow him, so he wouldn't disappear on me.  Katie didn't want me to hold her any longer and wanted to be put down and it was impossible to keep the sand off her hands before she would rub her eyes.  So right before 1 I quickly packed everything up and trucked thru the sand back to the car. 

I think all the excitement and stimulation of the day was plenty for Katie as that night was the very first night she slept thru the entire night; from 7 until 6!  Finally!!!

Hoping to go to the beach a few more times, but maybe with some more pairs of hands!  I wanted to take a lot more pictures however was chasing around both kids.  I did snap a few you can see below.

Next time we will have lunch BEFORE we get to the beach.

Miss Katie about to play in the sand.

I tried to keep them under the umbrella as much as I could.

See, there's the ocean in the background.  Mikey loved the sand.

He made friends with the girls so he could play with their watering can.

Mikey's in the background.  In the foreground is Thomas who swapped trucks with Mikey.

Playing in the hole we dug.

He loved it!

This was taken on the 29th.  The first time I let her play in the sandbox.

We went after dinner to the playground.  This was 6:30 and still super hot outside.

See how hot she looks.  We didn't stay to long.