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.

Photo Shoot.

Every once in a while the kids will be super snuggly with one another.  Sometimes I have my camera close by and sometimes I don't.  On this particular morning I had it close and snapped a few shots. 

LOVE.THEM.

And she's off!

I was able to get video of Katie crawling for the first time on June 3rd! Now shee is crawling all over the place and pulling herself up on all the furniture.

Enjoy!!!

Personal Fireworks?!!

Yup, well I'd atleast to think they were for us.  Out of the blue, after the kids had gone to bed and as we were winding down from the day, we noticed fireworks outside our living room windows.  There was a beautiful display of fireworks that lasted between 20 and 30 minutes.  I didn't notice them at first, so not sure what time they started but they lasted a while!

I've never seen fireworks from the comfort of my own home before.  :) I guess there's always a first! We still haven't been able to figure out what they were for?  A concert or wedding perhaps?

Enjoy the video!

Fun at the cousins!

I snapped a few pictures taken at my Aunt Janice's home.  She lives right across the street from my mom and dad and has some toys that are always fun!

Mikey especially loves the trampoline and we even enjoyed the kiddie pool and relaxing on the patio.

Katie and Amanda

She was content just to watch for a little while.

Mikey with Jen

Katie loved talking to the baby doll.

Then she had to check out the poolf or herself.

As snug as a bug.

She can really get around.

So happy to be playing with the big kids.

  Trampoline fun~

Visiting Great Grandma

My grandmother is in a physical therapy/ nursing home gathering up her strength to walk around after hip surgery.  We went out for lunch (this lunch reminded me why wen hardly ever eat out anymore, ordering in is the way to go) then popped by to visit with her and show her the great grandkids.

Waiting for lunch at Olive Garden.

Katie does really well now using a sippy cup.

Watching the ducks and some ducklings before seeing GG.

It was really windy under the gazebo and Katie's hair was flying in every direction.

Typical boy.

Add caption

Grandma watching the kids mess up her room.

Mall fun

PA reached record breaking temps this week so we played inside as much as possible to avoid the blazing sun.  We headed to the mall and the kids had a fun time running around and hopping into different cars/trucks.

Afterwards we had Rita's of course.  :)

Mikey really enjoys playing with older kids.  He does really good at keeping up with them too.

He climbed over everything they had there!

Always on the go.

He hopped on all the vehicles multiple times.

"Copter."

Katie even had a go at it.

Doesn't it really look like she's driving the ice cream truck?!

I think this was his favorite.  It repeated every 20 seconds "You have not inserted the right amount of coins."  Each time it said that Mikey said "Okay!" 

Yummy pear italian ice with vanilla custard!

Mikey is now humoring me by saying "Cheese" when I take pictures.

Cousins.

Hot, Hot, Hot

I have to admit, Jamie and Danny picked a pretty good week for their honeymoon.  Their timing meant we would be in PA to watch Bryan and not be stuck in a hot, sticky, city where you have to walk everywhere. 

We celebrated the start of summer by playing in, around or with water everyday.  The kids really enjoyed splashing and playing with toys in some bins to keep cool.  The part that I really liked was that it was shaded.  :)

She was interested in the water collecting on the deck.

He hopped right in.

Just fit him. 

A little slippery.

He was pretending to be Capt. Sully and tried to land the plane on the water.

She loved kicking her legs and splash water everywhere. 

Battleship.

Battleship was played a lot this week.  It's a fun game to play with someone else or even yourself against the computer, which is exactly what cousin Bryan was doing.  Mikey thought he was playing against him.

It was great entertainment for about an hour!  Gotta love that. 

Just getting started!

He's so focused!!

I love that he has such good hand, eye coordination and can manipulate his hands to pick up tiny objects.

I think there was a method to his madness.  He was very methodical about where he placed pieces.