A hot beach day, at last!

photo - beach fun with C & S

So today was the beach day that was supposed to happen yesterday. It was hot and sunny and relatively calm down by the water. After Bean's last gymnastics class this morning, I spent a good 4 hours down at the park and beach with the kids. The class was good. Bean had fun doing his thing and running around. He was proud to get his very own certificate and carried it around with him most of the morning. Schmoo did a great job sitting patiently on the sidelines looking at her new Chickadee magazine and Babar book until it was free time and she could move around the gym with us.

After a quick trip to the grocery store we headed down to the park. I thought I would treat to the kids to a donut today. Well, from the instant the idea passed through my lips, both kids turned into whining miserable creatures. Bean cried from the moment I put the donuts in the bag until we sat on the blanket at the park because he wanted to hold his donut. They had a big fight in the car as to who was going to carry the donut bag. When Schmoo lost out, because Bean had asked first, she cried for the next 20 minutes and got upset when the icing on her donut was a little bit schmushed and some of my icing had gotten onto her donut. It was very, very, VERY tempting to just pick up the donuts and throw them in the garbage, but I persevered. These pictures do not reflect what I think happy children eating donuts should look like.

The mood picked up when Auntie E and the kids arrived with Grandpa W. We all moved to a picnic table and shared some lunch. I had brought a mish mash of things for the kids and they shared their french fries from the cafe. We spent some time over at the playground, where they had just finished laying new wood chips and when our friends C and S showed up with their mom, C we moved down to the beach for a couple of hours. I later learned that my sunscreen application on Schmoo had not been sufficient has she has a very obvious tan line on her back. Note to self - remember to reapply sunscreen when changing venues.

The kids had a great time at the beach. I brought down a few buckets and shovels that I had in the car and the four kids played well together, digging holes and filling them up. They also snacked intermittently on the various food items that C and I had brought with us. It's always a 'share with friends' buffet when we're out on these kinds of playdates. We packed the kids up around 2pm, when the tell tale tantrums started and headed home for some quiet time. Schmoo slept, Bean did not. HOWEVER.....Bean successfully did all his business in the potty which totally made my day. In fact, he went the whole day without any accidents and even asked to go to the potty a couple of times. I'm trying very hard not to get too excited as I fear tomorrow will bring different results.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Schmoo and I spent some time in her room reading her Chickadee magazine as Bean rummaged around setting up a party in the front room for brown seal. Papa returned home with the sausages for the kids' dinner and after I made their dinner, they pretty much refused to eat most of it. I went out for a very focussed run - running to 7-11 to pick up a slurpee and stopping at the movie store on the way home, returning in a record 41 minutes, before Papa headed out for his Wednesday night soccer game. The kids had a big bath which was overdue after a day out yesterday with no bath and then today's activities down at the beach. I tucked Bean in and let Schmoo play in her room for a bit while I made up the homemade pizzas for dinner and then tucked her in before settling in to watch my movie "Definitely, Maybe". I have to say that eating pizza and watching a movie (especially a chick flick) has got to be one of my all time favourite things to do. Papa returned home with an unfavourable result and has headed to bed. As with most nights, my mind is racing and active and so here I am at midnight typing away to settle my mind.