A Glimpse of Spring

Briefly, for about 10 hours on Sunday, we had springlike weather.  It was mild, sunny and glorious.  It was the perfect weather for being outside.  Something we haven’t experienced for a couple of months.  It felt wonderful!

J and I decided that we’d take a family bike ride up to the beach f0r a picnic.  Cutie Pie has a big boy bike now and does quite well negotiating the sidewalks and streets of our neighborhood.  So, we figured that he was ready for his first real bike ride to the beach.   The beach is about a mile from our house.  That is quite a distance for little boys but we figured that they would get to rest once we got to our destination.

I packed up the spoils of my mom’s birthday party from the night before in our polka dotted soft-side cooler while J pumped up the bike tires.  Then off we went!

We rode by the little house where I lived with my parents until I was 4-years-old.  It’s for sale.  I told Steph that she should buy it.  I wonder if it still looks like I remember it on the inside…

The boys made it all the way to the beach without any complaints!  Yeah!

Once at the beach, we enjoyed our lunch and then built sandcastles in the warm sand.

We soaked up the sunshine for a while and watched a guy catch a huge fish.  When the boys were sufficiently damp and sandy we decided to pack it up and head for home.

No trip to the beach is complete without stopping by the sea grape plant for a leaf…

The boys cycled all the way home with very little complaint.  Sure, the return trip was much slower but we made it all the way without J or I dragging/carrying a Diego bike.

I’m looking forward to many more trips like this in the spring.

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Running Wild

Today we met some friends at a local beach park for lunch.  It was one of those days were the sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky and the March wind was whipping fiercely.  Our plan was to let the kids play and picnic down at the ocean’s edge instead of staying up in the park like we did last time.  But we changed our minds when we saw what the wind was doing to the beach.  The thought of getting sandblasted while eating a sandwich made us think better of heading down to the shore.

Luckily, the wind was not too bad at the park.  Several buildings and trees blocked much of the wind’s intensity.  The boys were able to get the mischief out of their system in the sand volleyball court.  They came up with a game where they would take turns soaking themselves in the freezing public shower and then rolling in the powdery white volleyball sand.  They looked like sand monsters.

It was so nice to sit on the edge of the volleyball court and chat with a fellow mom while our boys ran wild and free at the park.  The sun felt incredible on my skin and the breeze made it just the right temperature.  The children ran as fast as they could around and through the various pavilions.  The farthest one from us they deemed “Flo’s V8 Cafe”.  Flo’s delivered some of the best sea grass french fries I’ve ever tasted.  I hear the mulch hot dogs are to die for.

When Cutie Pie got so tired that he kept tripping and falling, I decided to pack it in and head for home.  Both Wildman and Cutie Pie are still napping.  I’m enjoying the peace that comes when my sons take a long nap.  That’s what plenty of fresh air, excitement and exercise will do to two little boys.

Ill-Fated Sleepover

We decided that Wildman was finally old enough to host his first sleepover. He really wanted his cousin T-bone to spend the night so I decided that T-bone would just stay with us after after vacation bible school. Upon devouring their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the boys requested to take a nap. Naturally, I was suspicious. No preschooler requests to take a nap unless something is up. As soon as I snuggled them both down in Wildman’s bed and closed the door, the party started. I heard all sorts of toys being drug out of the closet. *BANG* *SMASH* *Giggle* *CRASH* They played in Wildman’s room under the guise of napping for over 2 hours!

Hunger finally drove them from their den of toys. I gave them a snack, woke Cutie Pie from his nap and took them all swimming for an hour. It was cannonball central! The boys love to leap into the water screaming, “Cannonball!” at the top of their lungs. I don’t have any photos from the pool since electronics and H2O don’t mix very well. When they got cold I took them home to hit the showers.

After a little downtime with Noggin J arrived home. Hurricane Bertha is stirring up some good waves and he wanted to go surfing. It was dinner time so I decided to take the boys out for a Happy Meal picnic at the beach so we could watch J surf. Everything was great until Wildman hit the wall. Suddenly he was lying on his back on the picnic blanket saying that he was cold and sick. Oh, no! I looked down and his cheeks were bright red. He’s forehead was burning up. The poor little thing looked pathetic lying there. I waved J in and explained Wildman’s sudden illness. We loaded up the kids and headed for home. I called T-bone’s mom to tell her that he was coming home sooner than expected.

Wildman had a 102 temperature. I gave him a dose of Tylenol, put on his jammies and tucked him into the inflatable Cars bed that was to be T-bone’s sleepover bed. Poor Wildman fell fast asleep. His fever was gone this morning but he was still sluggish. We’ve spent the day on the couch watching movies.

Maybe we can try the sleepover again next week…