Relaxing Night

| August 11, 2013

After our jaunt on the beach earlier that evening, we took a nice walk down the Promenade to relax. Here are some of my favorite family photos from that night.

It was a bit chilly, so Sam was modeling her new Stone Harbor jacket she got that morning. When Mark and Sam were in the store picking out a jacket, he showed her all the colors it came in – yellow, green, purple, and he purposely left the pink one for last, knowing she would like it best (pink is her second favorite color). When she saw the pink one, she said, in the cutest voice, “Ohhhh…I know which one I want!” and pointed right to pink. Our girl certainly has definite opinions about what she likes.

I wish for the life of me I knew what apparently serious issue we were discussing, but I have no idea. I have a feeling it was about her desire for ice cream. Again.

More pictures of my two favorite people in the world, holding hands, as they should be. I hope Sam is always this enamored of her Dad, even when she gets older. Mark is such a good dad, and he spends so much time with her. She had better appreciate how lucky she is!

My Perfect Day

| August 11, 2013

Wednesday was, by far, my very favorite day. It was a rainy day, and we didn’t have a beach day, not really. How could this be my favorite day then, you might ask, when we were on our beach vacation? Well, because we did wind up at the beach, eventually, in the evening, after dinner. And we didn’t have on our bathing suits, and there were no buckets or shovels, or even beach towels. Just us, a kite, and an amazing little girl who can find joy anytime, anywhere, as long as she is with the people she loves.

That morning and early afternoon we went to Stone Harbor to shop, since there isn’t a lot else to do in the rain. We had a really nice lunch, shopped, got soaked, but had a perfectly nice day. Later, Mark decided to take Sam to the beach to fly her kite. We all trekked along thinking we’d get some nice quiet time together and maybe a few photos of Mark and Sam flying kites together. I had no idea at the time it would turn out to be such a perfect night. This is going to turn out to be a huge post, one of my longer ones, but the memories captured in our photos are not ones I will soon, if ever forget, and I wanted to share.

The evening started out just as planned, going to fly kites.

Sam got tired of flying eventually and decided to move on to other things, like hugging Mommy…

…and making sand angels…

We started picking up shells and that’s when the real fun began. Sam just strolled right into the ocean, as calm as could be, waves crashing around her feet. Last year she was so scared of the ocean, and the undertow, and well, mostly everything, that it was shocking to me at how brave and how daring she had become. The utter joy on her face as she ran into the waves was the most beautiful sight. These are some of my favorite pictures of me and my girl because we look so happy, so free. We were soaking wet in our clothes, having had no intention of going in the ocean, and Sam was thrilled to do it. I have my wonderful husband to thank for capturing these precious memories for me. The pictures speak for themselves. I don’t really need to describe the fun we had, I don’t think.

Mark eventually joined the fun, and Sam was happy as a clam to get him soaking wet too.

We finally got Sam out of the ocean to explore the beach some more. Sam has been fascinated with the concept of shadows lately and there were plenty on the beach that night.

She just loves looking at her shadow…

…and how it moves…

…every way she moves!

Our family 🙂

My two loves…

After a while, we started collecting more shells. We had no bucket, but my pockets (all four of them) were bursting over with her collection. When I emptied them at the house later that night, the amount of shells, rocks and sand I took out must have weighed 10 pounds!

You can see my poor pockets bulging!

Sam had everyone on the hunt for her treasures, Grandmom was no exception.

Last stop was the lifeguard station. I don’t think Sam was too sure about being up high, and it was a bit windy up there!

I will never forget that amazing time on the beach. I hope it is a memory that Sam can hold onto as well, especially now that she is at that age when memories can be fleeting. Hopefully, this one will stick. I want her to remember the fun, and the love, and the joy we had that night. She truly makes my life complete, and days like this one, make all the hard days, and, yes, there are some hard ones, so worthwhile.

Bingo and the Beach (not necessarily together)

| August 11, 2013

Our third day was pretty sedate, just more of the same, hanging at the beach. Sam collected lots and lots and lots of seashells.  Did I mention it was lots? Yeah, bucketfuls. This was, I believe, a clam or a clam shell that she insisted Mark take a photo of.

She had all of us at her beck and call, digging, making things with her sand molds, building sand castles, and Mom Mom was no exception. Grab that shovel, Mom Mom, we have holes to dig!

Later that night everyone was coming over for dinner and afterward we played bingo. Krista and Adam found it in a closet in their house and it was so much fun. Although, Krista as bingo caller took her job a wee bit to seriously…just kidding. But Sam got bored trying to fill her card so she helped call the numbers.  We all put in a dollar per game and Sam wound up winning, twice!

Ocean City, NJ

| August 11, 2013

We always make sure to visit the Ocean City boardwalk since it has so much to do. Good stores, good food, fun rides and games for the kids. This year was no exception.

First order of business was the Ferris Wheel. This has been, by far, Mark and my favorite ride for years and years. We have been looking forward to taking Sam on it forever. This year we finally got to do it where she would enjoy it. She loved the view from up high, and I loved the view of my little girl enjoying herself immensely.

I love the look on wonder on her face at how high up she is and all she can see.

I had such a good time I never wanted the ride to end.

Sam’s favorite ride is the carousel. Everywhere we find one, she has to go on, more than once. This time all the girls rode!

Sam always falls in love with whichever animal she rides and she takes care of them nicely. She petted the horse while she was riding. She always wants to know their names.

After the rides we strolled the boards for a while (on our way to the Christmas shop, which we all like, but, as you can imagine, Sam could shriek in delight over). We always pose by the beach. It is usually a great place to get pictures with our favorite girl.

Playtime at the beach

| August 11, 2013

One of the first things we did at the beach was fly kites. Maddox brought his kite and so did Sam. Mark loves flying kites, he always did, way before Sam was in the picture, so it is nice to see him be able to share that with the kiddos.

After the kite is in the air, we always let Sam and Maddox take a turn flying the kite on their own. There have been a few runaway kites, but no worries, they don’t go far!

My mom and I had taken Sam to a little store, Sands, that morning to pick up a few quick things. She saw this huge rubber ducky and begged me for it. I gave in (it is vacation after all!) and Sam couldn’t wait to take him to the beach.

Can you tell the kids were having a good time? Those smiles are so precious.

Sam and Maddox worked very intently, and very successfully, at getting themselves covered in sand from head to toe.

But it is all worth it to see that face. 🙂

Hugs! The cousins were so happy to hang out together on the beach where they could run around like lunatics, make a huge mess, and not one adult told them not to.

Mom Mom and Pop Pop enjoying the view, of both the ocean and their amazing grandkids.

There didn’t seem to be many tidal pools this year but Mark took Sam down to the jetty to look for hermit crabs and the like. She was feeling lazy and needed a piggy back ride.

I don’t know how much they found down there at the jetty, but I found some happy family members!

Sam couldn’t have been happier to dig and play all day long. It was hard to drag her off the beach most days. This is so early in the week, and she was just getting started!