We hung out at the lake for hours. I was so worried it was going to be a long, painful afternoon/evening. I mean, what could keep 2 squirrely kids busy on the beach for 5 hours? It was no problem at all. They had so much fun playing in the sand (I'm so glad I bought sand toys!)...
...chillin' in their new beach chairs (glad I bought those, too!)...
...buring Mom in the sand...
...then joining me in the sand:
Well, Chase joined me in the sand. Chloe wouldn't move from the towel and did not... under any circumstances... want to get sand on her feet. *sigh* She is so my daughter. She got much braver toward the end of the day, but the start of the day yielded tears every time she had to walk in it, even with her shoes on. It was more humorous than anything.
They weren't a big fan of the lake, and I don't blame them. I don't do well wading in muck, when I can't see my feet. This is about as close as they got to playing in the water:
When we needed to take breaks there were other things for us to do. They had live music, which Chloe loved to dance around to on our many trips to and from the port-a-potties (potty training fun, let me tell you)! They also had bouncy houses...
...and ICE CREAM!!
They managed to stay entertained until the sun went down:
And then it was time for fireworks!
We had to get kettle corn for the show, and while we were in line some people were shooting off fireworks from their home nearby and the kids were going nuts! I got a very tiny video snippet of it, but it's enough to get a feel for their energy and excitement (and I love how Chloe's still finding a way to dance to the music in the midst of it all). Click the thumbnail to view it:
It was recommended to me to just chill on the beach for awhile after the fireworks, because the lines for the shuttles would be long. So that's what we did. As we looked around at the beach we noticed it was completely trashed. I was appalled at the mess people left behind. Chase asked me what would happen if the trash went into the water and I said it would hurt the fish and the other animals that had fun in the water. His eyes got really wide and he went on a self-initiated mission to pick up trash on the beach. I had to empty all the gallon-sized baggies of sunblock and diapers from my beach bag so he could use them to pick up trash. He threw away 4 bags of trash and then walked around collecting water bottles for the recycling bin. Chloe "helped" (mostly by running around yelling dramatically, "Oh no! We don't want the fish to die!)." I was so proud of Chase for having such integrity and just doing the right thing. In the process he found an iPhone in the sand, so I answered it when it rang and we ended up meeting the owners back where the shuttle dropped us off to return it. I know the owner was grateful Chase was picking up trash on the beach!
I could not believe how amazing my kids were. We were there from 4-11:30 without any major meltdowns, tantrums, whining or complaining. They crashed when we got back to the car (I hadn't even pulled out of the parking space before Chase was out)! On the drive home I just kept reliving the day and thinking, "How did I get so lucky?"
I love my life.
P.S. There are more adorable photos in our Photo Album if you're interested!
1 comment:
That's awesome! Sounds like a great day...I'm impressed with the long stretch and no major meltdowns. I swear, we can't go 5 minutes without one of them whining or arguing here lately!
Kudos to Chase for picking up the trash AND finding a phone!
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