Well, this is our last full week before school starts. Our summer of fun is not technically over until Labor Day (and we have a few more fun things planned including some that are not on the bucket list), but we are starting to wind down some things because Kenzie officially starts VPK next week. Eek! Next week!She is getting way too big, way too fast.
Anyway, our week was fairly quiet leading up to the weekend. We just got back from our weekend with Grandma and Grandaddy on Sunday night so we spent Monday getting ourselves back into the swing of things. The norm... grocery store visits and unpacking.
Tuesday we ended up visiting the library and turning in Kenzie's form that she had for the summer reading program. This summer, if your child was between the ages of 3 and 12 (I think) and had a library card, they could fill out a form and indicate the days over the summer that he or she read, attended a library event, or a tech event at the library. Well, some days all we do is read and we read at least one book (Ha! Like we ever read just one book in a day!) each day. We also attend quite a few library events so this program was right up our alley. We ended up marking off each day over the summer and she was able to turn it in for a prize pack. She got a shirt (that is about 4 sizes too big but she insists on keeping in her closet until the day it fits... the problem is that I could wear it at this point), a backpack thing, and a bunch of coupons and coloring type things inside it. The coupons are actually pretty good so we are likely to be using some of them. She was so excited with herself. We spent some time playing on the computer while we were there because I knew that Wednesday we were going to miss story time because we would need to go pick up Jack.
Sidenote: Tuesday we also hit up Target because I was on a search for a UCF shirt/jersey for Will since he is the only one without one and we have their first football game in just a few weeks. I happened to find a jersey on clearance for $5. Don't know if any of my UCF fan friends with littles are in the market but there might be some left at some Targets. We managed to snag the last 4t in the store and they didn't have a 5t available or I would have grabbed that one too for whenever he grows out of this one. He has a while though. I bought it a bit big on purpose... plus there were no 3t at this particular Target and the 2t (which there were a ton of) was definitely way too small. Anyway, that afternoon we just played outside before the rain and then the kids put on a few "shows" for me during which Kenzie sings every song she knows and insists I sit in her tiny kid's chair to watch. Then we all get prizes. I got one for being the best listener. She got one for being the best singer and Will got one for being the best listener/back up singer. We have strange children.
Wednesday we went to Palatka to finally pick up Jack from Nana and Papa. We went around lunch time and went out to Chili's with Nana, Uncle Rick, and and Aunt Danielle. After lunch we headed home with Jack in tow. I think he was excited to see us but he never really likes leaving his doggy buddies behind. Poor guy.
Thursday we hit up the library because Gatorland had a Gator Wrangler come in to do a presentation. Kenzie and I went to this (and I think Will was there but a tiny baby) a couple of years ago. She loved it then so I knew she would definitely love it now that she is older and understands even more. Plus, Will loves this sort of thing. He likes all the cool animals for sure. The girls from next door were able to make it too so Kenzie sat front and center with them to see the animals. Will sat with them the majority of the time but eventually joined me. They started with a tarantula which they didn't let anyone touch. No problem. I wanted it no where near me. Then the guy brought out a blue tongued skink. I was so surprised to see both of our kids pet it. Well, I wasn't surprised to see Kenzie pet it but I was with Will. He likes to see the animals but doesn't always want to touch them. Especially if I am not nearby. Next was a ball python. Will was with me at that point so we pet the snake together. Kenzie wasn't so sure up front so she declined. Then came the fun. The gators. He had a 1 year old gator that no one was able to touch or hold and then he brought out a 3 year old gator and after telling us all more about the gators, we were able to wait in line to hold it. Um. Sold. While I was waiting in line, because I was totally going to be the silly adult that asked to hold the gator (along with my neighbor... I think we were more excited than the kids), Kenzie came up to me and I convinced her to hold it too. I told her I would take her picture if she would hold it and she was totally up for it. When we got to the front, she went for the gator right away. She had to have help from the wrangler as the gator was too heavy for her to hold alone. She was pretty excited with herself. Then, I got to hold him. So fun! Not as heavy as I thought he would be, but he pulled his tail around while I was holding him and you could feel the power in him when he did it. It was something. Will didn't partake in the holding of the gator and instead played on the computers while he waited. It was so much fun. They usually come every year so we will definitely be going next year when they return to the library.
Friday was a long day. Not sure why. Steven will tell you the week flew by because he was so busy at work. I actually think that other than Monday when he made it for the end of Kenzie's dance class, he didn't make it home before bed any other night. That night though was the Dolphins' first preseason game. We ended up going up to Froggers for dinner. Really that happened because we told Kenzie there was a Dolphins' game and she is so trained that she immediately started asking for Froggers and fried pickles. She actually asked to sit at the bar because she "loves sitting at bars".... (Insert facepalm emoji here) We didn't sit at the bar, but we did have fried pickles. Unfortunately, the game started too late for us to stay, but we did get to see all the Dolphin fan regulars and get prepped for the season. The game ended up being in a lightning delay anyway so it started almost an hour late. We let the kids stay up for some of it, but we had to get them to bed before it got too late because we knew we would likely be waking both of them up early on Saturday to head out to the beach.
Saturday morning we got up super early in preparation of heading to Honeymoon Island. We LOVE Honeymoon Island. We found out about it quite a few years ago when we read an article about some of the best beaches in Florida (or maybe it was in the US... I can't remember) and we had to try it. We have gone to it for a few special occasions too. It was where we took maternity pics and Kenzie's one-year-old pics. We wanted to go back for Will but never made it over there. I have a friend that lives not far from there and happens to be an awesome photog that took those pictures for us. Anyway, back to the day. So, we knew we wanted to hit up a West Coast beach this year. That was on our bucket list but as the summer is growing closer to its end, we were thinking it wasn't going to be an activity we completed. As it turned out, we ended up with a free Saturday and figured it was the best time to go. We checked the tides and found out that high tide was at about 8:30. We used to try to plan beach dates around tides and go at low tide but we no longer do that for a couple of reasons. 1. We can't be picky. We don't live close enough to be picky... yet we live close enough to the East coast that we technically could be a little bit picky. 2. We have started going to the beach and spending so much time that it doesn't matter what tide we have because we are going to likely be there when the next one rolls around. We got the kids up bright and early at about 6:40 and set out.
We stopped at Chick Fil A on the way for breakfast. We really like Chick Fil A for breakfast in the car because we can get each kid a box of hashbrowns which they love and I also bring fruit and cheerios along with their milk. So, they actually end up eating more than they probably do on a normal day at home. Neither kid is really that big on breakfast and I can't blame that. It's not my favorite meal either.
The drive down to Honeymoon Island is about 2 hours for us but it was pretty uneventful. Traffic wasn't even bad on I-4 or 275 because it was early. The kids loved driving over the Gulf to Bay road or whatever it is called. We were pleasantly surprised that Will stayed awake the entire 2 hour trip. It's always a bit iffy because he is still rear facing and he gets bored. When we got to the beach it wasn't super crowded yet so we found a parking spot and I started putting sunblock on the kids. Will ended up walking to the potty with Steven and on the way back, he tripped and skinned both knees. Not terribly, but enough to upset him. Once he remembered though that after his sunblock application he was going to get to play on the beach, he was good. This was one of the first times we have gone to the beach in a while without others there to help us. We handle the kid stuff for the most part even when others are with us, but is is nice to have help getting all our gear to the beach. It took us two trips but it wasn't too bad. The kids certainly didn't mind. They sat right down and started playing. Well, Will did. Kenzie ran for the water. She played at the water's edge until we were all set up. Then, she asked to head into the water. We knew she would be fine and would probably love the calm waves of the West Coast. We were genuinely curious to see how Will fared. He hasn't gotten used to the rougher waves we usually see but he seemed interested in the water so I walked him down to it and he asked to be picked up. I carried him into the water and he was perfectly fine. That was a major change from even last week. Last week he freaked out any time you put him near the water. Even if he was being held. We all spent about an hour in the water just bouncing in the waves. Kenzie actually stood up for a while and held onto Steven so she would have some leverage to jump the larger waves and not get knocked over. Both kids did a lot of kick practicing. Will loved being held out away from me and jumping with the waves. They had a blast. When we finally pulled them away, neither kid wanted to get out. We convinced them to go play at the water's edge instead with buckets and shovels. We had a blast digging up those little shells with the tiny guys (I have no idea what they are) living inside that when they are put on top of the sand, they bury themselves in it. Both kids thought that was awesome. Will kept waving to them and saying "bye shells" anytime they would bury themselves. The best part of all of this was that the beach itself wasn't huge so our tent was close to the water itself and the water was so calm that they played at the edge all by themselves. Steven and I sat together under the tent and watched. It's always nice to have a moment of quiet with just the two of us. Don't get me wrong, we watched them like crazy, but we didn't have to sit right on top of them. At one point I walked down there and coaxed Will farther into the water. He followed with no issues but then decided to try to sit down to fill his bucket with water and was almost immediately taken out by a large wave. He was washed backwards and underwater. I grabbed him and he wasn't happy but he recovered quickly and almost immediately was back to playing with Kenzie in the water. Same kid as last week that didn't want to be held near the water. We still haven't determined if it is that this beach had calmer waves or maybe that it wasn't as loud. He isn't into loud noises. They seem to startle him easily so maybe that was part of it. Either way, he loved this.
Note to self: Add waterproof camera to Christmas list. This summer we could have totally used one and as the kids get bigger and bigger, I think it is going to become more and more beneficial.
Eventually we had to convince the kids that lunch was necessary. Neither wanted to come in. It was a bit of a fight, but we finally got both under the tent and then it was another fight to convince them to actually eat. I had to feed Will bite by bite and hold his sandwich but he ate. Kenzie took a bit more convincing, but eventually she followed suit. Apparently as we got out our food, the seagull network sent out an urgent memo letting everyone know we had food because it wasn't too long before we had about 20 circling our tent and just staring at us. The kids kept yelling things like "Shoo! Go away!" It was quite funny. That's part of the reason neither kid wanted to eat. It was way more fun to yell at seagulls than actually eat lunch. We never did feed them and eventually they lost interest and left. Probably to wherever the next memo was issued from. Between our four family members we polished off 4 sandwiches, 8 clementines, and half a bag of baked lays. Despite the kids not wanting to come in, they were hungry. Also, I think we could have eaten more but that is all we brought... Jumping waves and kicking in the ocean is tiring and hunger-inducing. After we ate, we did a quick reapplication of sunblock. I love that both kids are so trained. I just sat down and pulled out the sunblock and they stood in a line waiting to get it applied. It was quite funny.
Then, they just wanted to go back into the water. So we did. At this point the tide was almost all the way out so the sandbar that was probably about 100 feet out was visible. We decided to try to get to it. Steven was able to walk the entire way and just hold Kenzie higher above the water. I had to hold Will and swim part way, but we made it. It made the water level at about my hips. Steven didn't like it because it was harder for him to hold Kenzie in that shallow area. She could have stood up but the boats and jet skis were coming in pretty close and it was creating major wake so the waves would have been a bit much. Will and I stayed and jumped those waves for a while before I swam us back towards shore. That was a workout and a half, for sure. We ended up staying in the water for probably another 30-45 minutes before we decided it was getting late and we should start packing up. The kids weren't quite ready to leave so we ended up letting them play under the tent for a while and then I convinced them to stand nice for a couple of pictures. =)
Cleaning up everything is definitely the worst part. We have sand everywhere and two small children that are starting to get antsy usually. They played pretty well while we cleaned and then we set about changing everyone to head home. Kenzie was easy enough but Will decided to blow out his swim diaper so that took quite a bit of effort on my part. I was in the women's changing room so I couldn't get any help. Oh well. We made it. After getting changed, we stopped at the nature center on the way out. It was small but the kids enjoyed looking around. The ranger even gave them each some nice shells to take home. They were quite happy with that.
Both kids were OUT within 10 minutes of leaving the park. Unfortunately, Kenzie seemed restless and then in her sleep said "I have to potty!!!" So, we pulled over and used our trusty car potty we still carry around for situations like this. She went A LOT so we are glad we stopped. The bad thing about it was that it woke her up fully and she stayed awake the rest of the way home. I say bad thing, but it might be good because it meant she went right to sleep at night. That doesn't usually happen when she naps so maybe waking up wasn't so bad after all. It is just a much quieter car ride if she sleeps. Otherwise, she never stops talking. Or asking questions. Or telling stories. Or requesting things like the chips she wanted from the rear of the car that I did some car cardio to get as I climbed from my seat to the back of the car. As in, the very back. Okay, I wanted the chips too. (Side note: We finished that other half bag of chips on the way home from the beach....)
We ended up grilling burgers and hot dogs for dinner and then Kenzie had chocolate ice cream after dinner. Perfect end to a beach day. She had to have ice cream because she read a book about a beach day and the boy in it had ice cream at the end of the day. Crazy kid. Will didn't have any because he didn't eat a good dinner. We think he was just really tired though despite his nap almost the entire way home. It was an awesome beach day. Probably my favorite so far. I love when it is just us and I loved that Will wanted to be in the water so we could all spend time together. I enjoy going with others too, but sometimes it is nice to have the time with just our little family. We are hoping to get at least one more beach day in before the weather cools off (like that will ever happen) so we will see how it goes.
Sunday morning was the norm for us. Church in the morning and then home for lunch and nap/rest time. Today was a big day in the Young house though. For the first time in probably over a year, I took Will (and Kenzie) to the back and he turned around to get his sticker and then walked his little self right into his room. He didn't even look back at me. He was apparently super happy today too and one of the ladies was telling me how much he is talking now even compared to a couple of weeks ago. We noticed a language explosion but we weren't sure if it was just us seeing it. For instance, a couple of days ago we heard him say his first 4 word sentence. Earlier than Kenzie even. He saw our neighbor outside and he said "I see Amea daddy" as in he see's our neighbor's daddy. His grasp of her name could use some work, but he pretty much had it. We understood it clearly. Anyway, he went right in and came out all smiles today. So good to see. Hopefully this is our turning point. Good thing too because in just a couple of months he moves up to the 2-year-old class. Steven was volunteering in tech so he was at church for both services. That meant it was just me and the kids for lunch. We had a bit of an issue when I realized that something under our sink was leaking as I was washing dishes. It took some experimentation but I figured out what it was and was just relieved it wasn't a major pipe in the wall or something. We were able to fix it fairly easily once Steven got home. Thank goodness.
After nap time today we loaded up in the car and set off for Dr. Phillips Community Park. There is a splash pad there that we wanted to go to as part of our bucket list. We haven't done this one before. It was a bit of a drive down there and it poured on us almost the entire way. Once we got there, the rain was done but there was still lightning in the area so we had to wait for the lightning warning to go off before we could partake in the splash pad. Our neighbors with the little girl joined us and the kids played at the playground while we waited. We were just talking about alternatives to the splash pad that we could try to do when the warning finally stopped and we were able to go in. We had the splash pad to ourselves for almost 20 or 30 minutes before another family came in. The kids had a blast. Kenzie loves herself a good splash pad and Will is definitely coming around. You would never know he used to be iffy on them at the beginning of the summer. Something happened with that kid this weekend. Between the ocean and the splash pad, you would think he was a fish. Which is what we always thought of him based on how he acts in a pool. Either way, they both had so much fun. The best part about the entire thing was that they had a water cannon. Kenzie thought she was hot stuff shooting everyone with the cannon. Then she made the mistake of walking away. Will went right over to it and Steven ran up to him to help. They got Kenzie right in the back. It was hilarious. She was pretty "mad." Fake mad and mostly laughing but it was funny. After playing for about an hour we all loaded up in the car and headed for home. We stopped at Anthony's Pizza with the neighbors and had a great dinner. Will chanted pizza as he waited for it to be delivered to the table. Silly kid. He loves his pizza.
It was another awesome weekend. We have just 3 more before the end of "summer" and our bucket list. I think we have another 5 or so things left. I know we are likely going to do 2-3 of them. I don't know that we will get to the other 2-3, but we are going to give it the old college try.
Anyway, our week was fairly quiet leading up to the weekend. We just got back from our weekend with Grandma and Grandaddy on Sunday night so we spent Monday getting ourselves back into the swing of things. The norm... grocery store visits and unpacking.
Tuesday we ended up visiting the library and turning in Kenzie's form that she had for the summer reading program. This summer, if your child was between the ages of 3 and 12 (I think) and had a library card, they could fill out a form and indicate the days over the summer that he or she read, attended a library event, or a tech event at the library. Well, some days all we do is read and we read at least one book (Ha! Like we ever read just one book in a day!) each day. We also attend quite a few library events so this program was right up our alley. We ended up marking off each day over the summer and she was able to turn it in for a prize pack. She got a shirt (that is about 4 sizes too big but she insists on keeping in her closet until the day it fits... the problem is that I could wear it at this point), a backpack thing, and a bunch of coupons and coloring type things inside it. The coupons are actually pretty good so we are likely to be using some of them. She was so excited with herself. We spent some time playing on the computer while we were there because I knew that Wednesday we were going to miss story time because we would need to go pick up Jack.
Sidenote: Tuesday we also hit up Target because I was on a search for a UCF shirt/jersey for Will since he is the only one without one and we have their first football game in just a few weeks. I happened to find a jersey on clearance for $5. Don't know if any of my UCF fan friends with littles are in the market but there might be some left at some Targets. We managed to snag the last 4t in the store and they didn't have a 5t available or I would have grabbed that one too for whenever he grows out of this one. He has a while though. I bought it a bit big on purpose... plus there were no 3t at this particular Target and the 2t (which there were a ton of) was definitely way too small. Anyway, that afternoon we just played outside before the rain and then the kids put on a few "shows" for me during which Kenzie sings every song she knows and insists I sit in her tiny kid's chair to watch. Then we all get prizes. I got one for being the best listener. She got one for being the best singer and Will got one for being the best listener/back up singer. We have strange children.
Wednesday we went to Palatka to finally pick up Jack from Nana and Papa. We went around lunch time and went out to Chili's with Nana, Uncle Rick, and and Aunt Danielle. After lunch we headed home with Jack in tow. I think he was excited to see us but he never really likes leaving his doggy buddies behind. Poor guy.
Thursday we hit up the library because Gatorland had a Gator Wrangler come in to do a presentation. Kenzie and I went to this (and I think Will was there but a tiny baby) a couple of years ago. She loved it then so I knew she would definitely love it now that she is older and understands even more. Plus, Will loves this sort of thing. He likes all the cool animals for sure. The girls from next door were able to make it too so Kenzie sat front and center with them to see the animals. Will sat with them the majority of the time but eventually joined me. They started with a tarantula which they didn't let anyone touch. No problem. I wanted it no where near me. Then the guy brought out a blue tongued skink. I was so surprised to see both of our kids pet it. Well, I wasn't surprised to see Kenzie pet it but I was with Will. He likes to see the animals but doesn't always want to touch them. Especially if I am not nearby. Next was a ball python. Will was with me at that point so we pet the snake together. Kenzie wasn't so sure up front so she declined. Then came the fun. The gators. He had a 1 year old gator that no one was able to touch or hold and then he brought out a 3 year old gator and after telling us all more about the gators, we were able to wait in line to hold it. Um. Sold. While I was waiting in line, because I was totally going to be the silly adult that asked to hold the gator (along with my neighbor... I think we were more excited than the kids), Kenzie came up to me and I convinced her to hold it too. I told her I would take her picture if she would hold it and she was totally up for it. When we got to the front, she went for the gator right away. She had to have help from the wrangler as the gator was too heavy for her to hold alone. She was pretty excited with herself. Then, I got to hold him. So fun! Not as heavy as I thought he would be, but he pulled his tail around while I was holding him and you could feel the power in him when he did it. It was something. Will didn't partake in the holding of the gator and instead played on the computers while he waited. It was so much fun. They usually come every year so we will definitely be going next year when they return to the library.
Friday was a long day. Not sure why. Steven will tell you the week flew by because he was so busy at work. I actually think that other than Monday when he made it for the end of Kenzie's dance class, he didn't make it home before bed any other night. That night though was the Dolphins' first preseason game. We ended up going up to Froggers for dinner. Really that happened because we told Kenzie there was a Dolphins' game and she is so trained that she immediately started asking for Froggers and fried pickles. She actually asked to sit at the bar because she "loves sitting at bars".... (Insert facepalm emoji here) We didn't sit at the bar, but we did have fried pickles. Unfortunately, the game started too late for us to stay, but we did get to see all the Dolphin fan regulars and get prepped for the season. The game ended up being in a lightning delay anyway so it started almost an hour late. We let the kids stay up for some of it, but we had to get them to bed before it got too late because we knew we would likely be waking both of them up early on Saturday to head out to the beach.
Saturday morning we got up super early in preparation of heading to Honeymoon Island. We LOVE Honeymoon Island. We found out about it quite a few years ago when we read an article about some of the best beaches in Florida (or maybe it was in the US... I can't remember) and we had to try it. We have gone to it for a few special occasions too. It was where we took maternity pics and Kenzie's one-year-old pics. We wanted to go back for Will but never made it over there. I have a friend that lives not far from there and happens to be an awesome photog that took those pictures for us. Anyway, back to the day. So, we knew we wanted to hit up a West Coast beach this year. That was on our bucket list but as the summer is growing closer to its end, we were thinking it wasn't going to be an activity we completed. As it turned out, we ended up with a free Saturday and figured it was the best time to go. We checked the tides and found out that high tide was at about 8:30. We used to try to plan beach dates around tides and go at low tide but we no longer do that for a couple of reasons. 1. We can't be picky. We don't live close enough to be picky... yet we live close enough to the East coast that we technically could be a little bit picky. 2. We have started going to the beach and spending so much time that it doesn't matter what tide we have because we are going to likely be there when the next one rolls around. We got the kids up bright and early at about 6:40 and set out.
We stopped at Chick Fil A on the way for breakfast. We really like Chick Fil A for breakfast in the car because we can get each kid a box of hashbrowns which they love and I also bring fruit and cheerios along with their milk. So, they actually end up eating more than they probably do on a normal day at home. Neither kid is really that big on breakfast and I can't blame that. It's not my favorite meal either.
The drive down to Honeymoon Island is about 2 hours for us but it was pretty uneventful. Traffic wasn't even bad on I-4 or 275 because it was early. The kids loved driving over the Gulf to Bay road or whatever it is called. We were pleasantly surprised that Will stayed awake the entire 2 hour trip. It's always a bit iffy because he is still rear facing and he gets bored. When we got to the beach it wasn't super crowded yet so we found a parking spot and I started putting sunblock on the kids. Will ended up walking to the potty with Steven and on the way back, he tripped and skinned both knees. Not terribly, but enough to upset him. Once he remembered though that after his sunblock application he was going to get to play on the beach, he was good. This was one of the first times we have gone to the beach in a while without others there to help us. We handle the kid stuff for the most part even when others are with us, but is is nice to have help getting all our gear to the beach. It took us two trips but it wasn't too bad. The kids certainly didn't mind. They sat right down and started playing. Well, Will did. Kenzie ran for the water. She played at the water's edge until we were all set up. Then, she asked to head into the water. We knew she would be fine and would probably love the calm waves of the West Coast. We were genuinely curious to see how Will fared. He hasn't gotten used to the rougher waves we usually see but he seemed interested in the water so I walked him down to it and he asked to be picked up. I carried him into the water and he was perfectly fine. That was a major change from even last week. Last week he freaked out any time you put him near the water. Even if he was being held. We all spent about an hour in the water just bouncing in the waves. Kenzie actually stood up for a while and held onto Steven so she would have some leverage to jump the larger waves and not get knocked over. Both kids did a lot of kick practicing. Will loved being held out away from me and jumping with the waves. They had a blast. When we finally pulled them away, neither kid wanted to get out. We convinced them to go play at the water's edge instead with buckets and shovels. We had a blast digging up those little shells with the tiny guys (I have no idea what they are) living inside that when they are put on top of the sand, they bury themselves in it. Both kids thought that was awesome. Will kept waving to them and saying "bye shells" anytime they would bury themselves. The best part of all of this was that the beach itself wasn't huge so our tent was close to the water itself and the water was so calm that they played at the edge all by themselves. Steven and I sat together under the tent and watched. It's always nice to have a moment of quiet with just the two of us. Don't get me wrong, we watched them like crazy, but we didn't have to sit right on top of them. At one point I walked down there and coaxed Will farther into the water. He followed with no issues but then decided to try to sit down to fill his bucket with water and was almost immediately taken out by a large wave. He was washed backwards and underwater. I grabbed him and he wasn't happy but he recovered quickly and almost immediately was back to playing with Kenzie in the water. Same kid as last week that didn't want to be held near the water. We still haven't determined if it is that this beach had calmer waves or maybe that it wasn't as loud. He isn't into loud noises. They seem to startle him easily so maybe that was part of it. Either way, he loved this.
Note to self: Add waterproof camera to Christmas list. This summer we could have totally used one and as the kids get bigger and bigger, I think it is going to become more and more beneficial.
Eventually we had to convince the kids that lunch was necessary. Neither wanted to come in. It was a bit of a fight, but we finally got both under the tent and then it was another fight to convince them to actually eat. I had to feed Will bite by bite and hold his sandwich but he ate. Kenzie took a bit more convincing, but eventually she followed suit. Apparently as we got out our food, the seagull network sent out an urgent memo letting everyone know we had food because it wasn't too long before we had about 20 circling our tent and just staring at us. The kids kept yelling things like "Shoo! Go away!" It was quite funny. That's part of the reason neither kid wanted to eat. It was way more fun to yell at seagulls than actually eat lunch. We never did feed them and eventually they lost interest and left. Probably to wherever the next memo was issued from. Between our four family members we polished off 4 sandwiches, 8 clementines, and half a bag of baked lays. Despite the kids not wanting to come in, they were hungry. Also, I think we could have eaten more but that is all we brought... Jumping waves and kicking in the ocean is tiring and hunger-inducing. After we ate, we did a quick reapplication of sunblock. I love that both kids are so trained. I just sat down and pulled out the sunblock and they stood in a line waiting to get it applied. It was quite funny.
Then, they just wanted to go back into the water. So we did. At this point the tide was almost all the way out so the sandbar that was probably about 100 feet out was visible. We decided to try to get to it. Steven was able to walk the entire way and just hold Kenzie higher above the water. I had to hold Will and swim part way, but we made it. It made the water level at about my hips. Steven didn't like it because it was harder for him to hold Kenzie in that shallow area. She could have stood up but the boats and jet skis were coming in pretty close and it was creating major wake so the waves would have been a bit much. Will and I stayed and jumped those waves for a while before I swam us back towards shore. That was a workout and a half, for sure. We ended up staying in the water for probably another 30-45 minutes before we decided it was getting late and we should start packing up. The kids weren't quite ready to leave so we ended up letting them play under the tent for a while and then I convinced them to stand nice for a couple of pictures. =)
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| I just love the way he looks at her. She hangs the moon. |
Cleaning up everything is definitely the worst part. We have sand everywhere and two small children that are starting to get antsy usually. They played pretty well while we cleaned and then we set about changing everyone to head home. Kenzie was easy enough but Will decided to blow out his swim diaper so that took quite a bit of effort on my part. I was in the women's changing room so I couldn't get any help. Oh well. We made it. After getting changed, we stopped at the nature center on the way out. It was small but the kids enjoyed looking around. The ranger even gave them each some nice shells to take home. They were quite happy with that.
Both kids were OUT within 10 minutes of leaving the park. Unfortunately, Kenzie seemed restless and then in her sleep said "I have to potty!!!" So, we pulled over and used our trusty car potty we still carry around for situations like this. She went A LOT so we are glad we stopped. The bad thing about it was that it woke her up fully and she stayed awake the rest of the way home. I say bad thing, but it might be good because it meant she went right to sleep at night. That doesn't usually happen when she naps so maybe waking up wasn't so bad after all. It is just a much quieter car ride if she sleeps. Otherwise, she never stops talking. Or asking questions. Or telling stories. Or requesting things like the chips she wanted from the rear of the car that I did some car cardio to get as I climbed from my seat to the back of the car. As in, the very back. Okay, I wanted the chips too. (Side note: We finished that other half bag of chips on the way home from the beach....)
We ended up grilling burgers and hot dogs for dinner and then Kenzie had chocolate ice cream after dinner. Perfect end to a beach day. She had to have ice cream because she read a book about a beach day and the boy in it had ice cream at the end of the day. Crazy kid. Will didn't have any because he didn't eat a good dinner. We think he was just really tired though despite his nap almost the entire way home. It was an awesome beach day. Probably my favorite so far. I love when it is just us and I loved that Will wanted to be in the water so we could all spend time together. I enjoy going with others too, but sometimes it is nice to have the time with just our little family. We are hoping to get at least one more beach day in before the weather cools off (like that will ever happen) so we will see how it goes.
Sunday morning was the norm for us. Church in the morning and then home for lunch and nap/rest time. Today was a big day in the Young house though. For the first time in probably over a year, I took Will (and Kenzie) to the back and he turned around to get his sticker and then walked his little self right into his room. He didn't even look back at me. He was apparently super happy today too and one of the ladies was telling me how much he is talking now even compared to a couple of weeks ago. We noticed a language explosion but we weren't sure if it was just us seeing it. For instance, a couple of days ago we heard him say his first 4 word sentence. Earlier than Kenzie even. He saw our neighbor outside and he said "I see Amea daddy" as in he see's our neighbor's daddy. His grasp of her name could use some work, but he pretty much had it. We understood it clearly. Anyway, he went right in and came out all smiles today. So good to see. Hopefully this is our turning point. Good thing too because in just a couple of months he moves up to the 2-year-old class. Steven was volunteering in tech so he was at church for both services. That meant it was just me and the kids for lunch. We had a bit of an issue when I realized that something under our sink was leaking as I was washing dishes. It took some experimentation but I figured out what it was and was just relieved it wasn't a major pipe in the wall or something. We were able to fix it fairly easily once Steven got home. Thank goodness.
After nap time today we loaded up in the car and set off for Dr. Phillips Community Park. There is a splash pad there that we wanted to go to as part of our bucket list. We haven't done this one before. It was a bit of a drive down there and it poured on us almost the entire way. Once we got there, the rain was done but there was still lightning in the area so we had to wait for the lightning warning to go off before we could partake in the splash pad. Our neighbors with the little girl joined us and the kids played at the playground while we waited. We were just talking about alternatives to the splash pad that we could try to do when the warning finally stopped and we were able to go in. We had the splash pad to ourselves for almost 20 or 30 minutes before another family came in. The kids had a blast. Kenzie loves herself a good splash pad and Will is definitely coming around. You would never know he used to be iffy on them at the beginning of the summer. Something happened with that kid this weekend. Between the ocean and the splash pad, you would think he was a fish. Which is what we always thought of him based on how he acts in a pool. Either way, they both had so much fun. The best part about the entire thing was that they had a water cannon. Kenzie thought she was hot stuff shooting everyone with the cannon. Then she made the mistake of walking away. Will went right over to it and Steven ran up to him to help. They got Kenzie right in the back. It was hilarious. She was pretty "mad." Fake mad and mostly laughing but it was funny. After playing for about an hour we all loaded up in the car and headed for home. We stopped at Anthony's Pizza with the neighbors and had a great dinner. Will chanted pizza as he waited for it to be delivered to the table. Silly kid. He loves his pizza.
It was another awesome weekend. We have just 3 more before the end of "summer" and our bucket list. I think we have another 5 or so things left. I know we are likely going to do 2-3 of them. I don't know that we will get to the other 2-3, but we are going to give it the old college try.
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