Day 6 at the Beach

Less words... more pictures.  

Just have to show you all our fun! 

second round of donughts!

Tickle fest before hitting the beach!

"No. I'm not a tourist! What would give you that idea?"

"That seagull just ripped my sandwich right out of my hand!  Then he had the nerve to drop it in the sand!"

Grandma Patrol! (My mom and Ian's Mom)

nap time.

"Yeah! I'm cool!"

Playing with cousins. We had a special treat. My cousin Melanie was on her way from Charleston SC to the Baltimore area with her two girls and her niece. We were lucky enough to get a brief visit. It was a nice leg stretch for her girls ages 3 and 5. And it was really nice to catch up on life with Mel!

Kylie was the only one of our kids to have ever met Mel and her kids. So it was a super cool visit!

All of our boys in the water. Each afternoon we were lucky enough to get a great semi-tidal pool.  The water was still moving, but there was a sand bar blocking the big waves. The kids loved this time of day! 

Story time with Grandma!

Playing the "this is really fun" game. Thanks CCC staff... my kids think this is awesome!

Daniel playing peek-a-boo in my laundry hamper... yep all of our clothes were on the floor! 

The boys in Navy.

The girls in Navy.

All six in navy... Each night it was getting more and more difficult to convince them to take a picture.

Our sweet and sassy girls!

Our crazy older five!

Yep they are silly!

Besides Sun, Surf and Ice Cream we have another tradition at the beach. Each year we head to "Saint Nick Nacks" and let the kids pick out an ornament for the Christmas tree. There are MANY things to break in this store so Adam and I each took a child and let them explore and pick the perfect ornament.  I was with Maylin.

I don't think she remembered this from last year. At that point she didn't understand English or Christmas, let alone the point of ornaments. This year she was in AWE. In the most amazed yet calm and quiet voice she said "Mommy this is wonderful! Santa made all of this for Jesus!"

Awestruck she walked around in amazement. She carefully chose her ornament after looking at MANY. When she saw one she liked and asked me to remember where it was in case that was the one she ended up wanting to buy. Eventually she picked a Christopher Radco-ish Hello Kitty face.  Pierson picked a soccer ball in a similar style.

After paying for all of our ornaments Uncle Ian Played "Ringmaster" with the kids. You know, the game you swing a ring and try to catch it on a hook?

Right across the street was the Ice Cream shop. You just can't pass an ice cream shop at the beach.
The kids took their yearly picture in front of Scoop and Dip.

2011

2010

Day 4 at the Beach

The day started with plenty of time in the water and in the sand. We definitely are, by definition "Beach Bums"! Many people I know go to the beach and spend at least one day doing other things and never go to the shore. Not our family! If we don't spend at least 5 hours a day on the beach we have wasted the day! 

Daniel, the newest member of the Beach Bums, fit right into the family.

Ouch! Daredevil he IS! Don't be fooled. Not even a nose dive like this will keep this kid out of the water.

Maylin enjoyed the water and waves with no fear, however she REALLY loved spending time building sand castles or just digging holes.

Daniel likes to pull things... anything...

Kylie contributing to the castle building.

"That's not exactly right Daddy." Maylin inspects Pierson and Daddy's architecture. Notice the cute sun visors the kids are sporting. Thanks Grandma! They love them!

Pierson is very proud of his final masterpiece complete with bridges, moats, walls and towers. He is my little future engineer.

As much as this family likes the sand and surf I would be remiss not to mention the fact that we also greatly appreciate the food available to consume at the beach.

These cutie pies are kicking their feet not because they know they are the cutest girls in town but because they know they are about to consume crab legs! 

Every year we head out to get delectable crab legs! It is something we all look forward to! 

Can't you feel Caleb's enthusiasm? Poor little guy. This is what he looked like until the moment the food came out. 

Uncle Adam don't do it!

Oh wait he liked it! : )
 This little guy is quickly becoming the clown of the family! He does things just to make other people laugh. I think he and Pierson will be quite a pair when they get a little older!

Pierson was enjoying the view from his seat at dinner. I am not sure which he enjoyed more the food or watching the turtles in the water?

6 Caucasian adults (Kristi was taking the picture) and 6 Asian children. Yeah, we get a lot of second glances.
 I love it though! Not the second glances part, but the fact that I can't classify my family as primarily one race or another. It is something that I have to keep on the forefront of my mind. We are not a Caucasian family. We are a mixed race family who come from different cultures. I don't want my kids to ever feel like I believe the culture I have been raised in is superior to the culture they were born into.  They come from traditions far older than any American traditions. While many of their traditions are centered around false gods and religion there are plenty which aren't. I hope to be able to keep part of those alive in my kids so they never forget where they came from.

In the meantime we are making traditions we can all cherish. Eating snow crab at Joe's is just one of those.

Taking lots of pictures is another.

And the eating goes on! The kids were mesmerized by the guy making saltwater taffy! That guy was a good sport. He tapped back on the glass after the kids knocked, he smiled and waved, but most importantly he motioned for them to come inside and get a free sample!

As good as it was, one little piece of taffy wasn't going to cut it as a 'desert'! On the ride back to Sunset the "Hot Donuts Now" sign had a strange magnetic pull to it. All three cars in our caravan mysteriously drifted into the Krispy Kreme donut shop! It must have been fate. A box of 12 hot donuts were waiting for the 12 of us to consume...

and consume we did!

Yummy!!!

Day 2 Going and Coming with Smiles

After the morning we had yesterday my sister recommended we get the book "The Kissing Hand".
It is about a little racoon who is scared to go to school but his Mommy gives him a kiss on his hand. She then tells him to hold onto the kiss and any time he gets lonely through the day open it up and remember Mommy is in his heart.

The evening got a little crazy last night with soccer practice and Praise team practice. So we read the book to him this morning while he was eating breakfast.

The book came complete with a sheet of stickers to remind him or Mommy's kiss.

All too soon it (way to early in the morning) it was time to head up to the top of the drive for the bus stop. Pierson sat in the front seat pretending to drive while he waited for the bus. (Yes, I was holding the keys).

There it was! Pierson jumped up barely gave me a kiss and hurried to the bus! I think he was afraid it would leave him. : )

There he was. My baby boy sitting on the bus like a big boy waving to me with a huge smile! I wasn't sure if I was thrilled that he was excited or sad that he was excited? A mom's heart has so many mixed emotions.

Maylin and I spent the day watching a little Scooby Doo and painting. Right on time we headed up the driveway to wait for the bus to bring Pierson home.

 It wasn't long before he was there smiling and running down the steps. I thought he was going to trip and tumble due to his excitement. Our conversations went something like this.

Me: "Did you use my kisses in your hand?"

Pierson: "Yep, like one hundrwed times. All over my face!"

I bet he didn't get any strange looks for that?

Me: "What did you do at school?"

Pierson; "Umm... went to the pwayground and teacher gave us ice cream!" 

Well we know what is important to him right?

Me: "Pierson do you have pretty girls in your class?"

Pierson: "SHURE I do! A loc of dem! I love dat! as he squints his eyes, raises his eyebrows and puckers his lips. "I kiss two of dem on de bus!"

Oh No! I think I am in trouble! At least he had a great day!