Day 13. Year 2.

     Another beautiful day at the beach! I was so happy when Vicki went to put on her swimsuit this morning and she lifted her legs herself without me having to tap each of her legs, no hesitation at all. Oh... the little things that make my heart swell. :)  I thought, wow, if this is any indication of how today will go, I will take it! But, alas, the excitement was short lived. We were getting ready to go out the door and it was a lot warmed outside today; the kids didn't need their sweatshirts, just swimsuits and a t-shirt. But, of course, Vicki wanted a repeat of yesterday, and yesterday she wore her purple sweatshirt. Now, you may think, 'why not just let her wear her purple sweatshirt? It would save time and a battle.' Yes, it would. And it's only a sweatshirt. But, we picked our battle. :( And the purple sweatshirt vs the blue t-shirt was it. I wasn't up for a fight. I really just wanted to get out the door and go down to the beach. But, sometimes, even the smallest of things, no matter how silly it seems to fight over, is worth the fight. Maybe not today, but some days, especially when the weather goes from 35 degrees to 85 degrees in the span of one or two days (which seems to be the norm this spring!) it is a battle that needs to be fought. So my husband stayed with Vicki and I took Joey and Ally down to the beach. I hate splitting up like that, but was more than happy not to be fighting this battle myself.

      No more than 5 minutes later I see my husband and Vicki holding hands coming down the beach, skipping... Vicki skipping, not my husband. :)  And there was Vicki with her blue t-shirt over her head, kind of. Halfway over her head, but it was on, and it was not the purple sweatshirt. It was warm enough that a minute later the t-shirts came off and that was fine. My husband said that all Vicki wanted was a fight. And when he didn't give her the fight, she got mad, got up, put the t-shirt halfway on and was out the door with him. :)  Phew.

     Yesterday, I had written a few more paragraphs that somehow disappeared between the time I hit save now and publish post. I guess I didn't really need them, but I'm going to write about the content again anyway. This trip to the beach has to be one of the least stressful and most 'relaxing' trip we've ever taken with the kids. 'Relaxing' in so far as a parent can relax around a child near the water or in a pool. Joey and Ally actually played together, or at least beside each other, without too much arguing. :)  The water wasn't super warm, so no one wanted to be out deep for too long (plus there were a lot of jellyfish, ick!). And when my husband is around we give Vicki a little more freedom because my husband is speedy and I am not. :)  And Vicki was really good. Sometimes I am so afraid of what 'could happen' (especially based on past experiences and Vicki's unpredictable nature) that I am afraid to let anything happen. So it was nice to see that Vicki would run down to the water, splashing all the way with her ponytail waving, sit down in the shallow waves and let the water carry her in, and get up run back and do it all over again. And when Joey and Ally were digging, Vicki came over and sat beside them mushing her hands in the wet sand and smiling and laughing. I always feel so much less stressed out when my husband is right there with us. In case I don't say this enough, he is amazing with Vicki and all the kids, and I am so grateful for him, everyday.

     So, even though it was Friday the 13th, all in all, it was an amazing day. Vicki had her whiny moments, but then again so did I, and so did Ally, and so did Joey. We were a bit more prepared for some of the stuff. Oh there were some sit down on the ground yucky moments, but, again, with my husband there, we were able to get over it and move on.  We met a lovely older woman on the beach today who lives here, her name was Myrtle. She gave all of the seashells she had found this morning to Ally. Ally was so excited! And Myrtle invited us over to her house the next street over so we could see her collections of beachy stuff anytime we wanted. :) What else happened... Oh, my perseverance paid off. I found Joey a black shark tooth after scooping up shell handfuls for quite some time!! Woo hoo! A bird pooped on my head. Seriously. Everyone got a good laugh over that. Really?!?! I was NOT laughing. What else. Oh, Joey took me into a toy store because he wanted my opinion on a candy jar he wanted to buy with his allowance. I should have realized... he never wants my opinion like that. A wooden box that has a slide lid. Yep, and a fake rubber rat comes out when you start sliding the lid. Very funny Joey. :)  And yes, my husband and Ally were peeking their heads around the corner to watch the expression on my face.  One of the highlights of our non-beach time was that at the Fudgeary, there was an awesome employee who sang while he was making the fudge. The kids loved it. And he was an amazing singer. So I whispered to him that it is Ally's birthday tomorrow and asked if he would do a special request. He serenaded Ally with a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday. I wish I would have had my video camera on, it was priceless. Ally was beaming. What's better than as many free fudge samples as you want while being serenaded in front of a crowd of people that gathered to listen and then clap afterwards? It was tailor made for Ally. :) Gosh I love this beach air and atmosphere. And although I do have my computer with me, it's not on when the kids are awake. And it's kinda freeing... to just be there, in the moment with your kids, and not have everything else bog you down. I don't want spring break to end....