A lot of Rain...A lot of Wind...A lot of Pretzels?

Andrea popped out of the blue and demanded the day!!!

And, I actually managed to capture a picture of the rain since it was coming down in buckets.

So, just what does one do when Andrea has invaded?

Well.....there's extended breakfast time with Pap-pap G

And there's pretzel making time with Aunt Stacey & Aunt Amy

And the fun thing about pretzels is that you can make cool shapes......like a triangle.

And, while waiting for them to bake, we spotted a rainbow over the ocean!

And then......the pretzels were done!

Yummy.  In fact....right about now.....Andrea didn't seem so bad.

And, just when we thought that Andrea was moving out.........

the winds really picked up.

Ok, I'll admit it....the wind didn't actually almost push Jim over, although we certainly kept little kids inside....just in case they might blow away.

And, just for fun, I let the little guy use my camera so you could see just how much fun was happening.

It looks like those faces chased Andrea away!  Time for our last day at the beach!!

The Sun Halo Prediction

We were sitting on the beach, enjoying the day, when we looked up and saw this:

I have to admit, it was the first Sun Halo that I'd ever witnessed.  I had hoped to tell you that it was some sort of mysterious, unexplained phenomenon, something that was rare and unusual,  but it turns out that a Sun Halo is merely a prediction that one can expect rain sometime in the next 24 hours.

But, we already knew that Tropical Storm Andrea was lurking in the distance, so our plan was to get in as much beach time as possible before the rain hit.  And, it's a good thing that we did, because the rain is here once again.

So, here's a quick synopsis of our day:

Finished the annual beach puzzle, which is no easy feat when it sits on a table at toddler hand height.

Managed to get in some matching shirt photos with Pap Pap G,

although it was a bit difficult actually capturing the duck image with two moving kids.

Grabbed a photo with this little guy sporting his floaties, who insisted that he did NOT look like a frog.

Enjoyed the cuteness of this one having loads of fun in the makeshift "baby" pool on the beach.

Had some entertainment from this little guy who kept popping up and down out of the sand near my feet.

And, finally, took this shot .

Sure looks like a couple of frogs to me!  What do you think?

8 Legs of Fun

We awoke to a bright and absolutely gorgeous day and immediately came up with a fantastic plan:

 head down to the beach and build a sand fort so that we had somewhere to hang out when the tide came in later in the day.  Wouldn't that be fun?

But then, some little guy informed me that the sand fort was only for guys. 

 No girls allowed.  

Not even Gramma G!

Well..... .you can guess how well that went over with Aunt Amy (and Gramma G)!  

So, she and I decided that we would build our own sand creation, and it wasn't long before Aunt Stacey was in on the fun as well.

How is this for fabulous?

                                 

And, what's the best way to get such a great shot?

Well......on someone's shoulders......of course!

Amy was so thrilled with her creation that she wanted to show off her own Octopus moves.

Obviously, that was a bit difficult to duplicate....but you get the idea.

And, guess what?  Before we were even finished with our sand creation, it was proclaimed that the fort (built by the guys) was now open to guys AND girls and that included Gramma G.  

But I decided to pass on the offer.....simply because I wasn't sure that I'd be able to climb out of it once I got in!

And it was hours before the tide would be rolling back in. 

In the meantime, there was plenty of fun to pass the time. 

And before we knew it......it was time to watch the waves roll in.

Even Stacey got in on the fun.........hanging out on the Octopus, watching the tentacles slowly melt into the sand.

And, of course, you need some "hi -YA!" moves as the ocean edge creeps in closer and closer. 

And then.....ABRA CADABRA.....the tide was in!

But we were still having fun! 

Do you know the Mullet Man?

In the last post, you met the Muffin Man.   Well......it appears that he can help make much more than muffins.

We had a great time trying out the new mini-donut maker that I brought with me to the beach.
He had the sprinkle job down to perfection.

And the finished product certainly passed the taste test

In fact, it appears that these confectionary delights were "finger licking" good!

Cooking in the morning involves much more than just stirring, mixing and baking.  This little guy and I enhance the experience with some sing-a-long music while we work.  

This particular day, while singing "Do you know the muffin man?" Grandpa G popped his head into the kitchen looking for his mullet fish that he had stored in the refrigerator.  Everyday, Pap-Pap catches at least one mullet, which eventually gets cut up for bait to pop on the end of the line in anticipation of a bigger ocean catch.

Please note the word.......anticipation......

Getting back to my story.....this little guy and I were busily singing when suddenly, we thought up a NEW song!  

Do You Know the Mulllet Man?

Here's how it goes:

Do you know the mullet man...the mullet man...the mullet man?

Do you know the mullet man?   His name is Pap-Pap G!!

And here you see his one and only mullet of the day

Lucky for us, PapPap G isn't the only form of entertainment here.

And, how's this for a clever idea?  An old shower curtain, imbedded into the sand, then filled with water from the ocean.  Instant salt water baby pool!

Add a few little sand crabs to swim around and you have some pretty exciting entertainment.

Building a sand fort can be lots of fun as well.

And....waiting for the waves to crash it even MORE fun!

So, despite the chill in the air and 57 degree water temperatures.....as you can see.....there was no lacking in FUN here at the beach.

Hope your day was equally exciting......but I doubt it could be. :-)

Meet the Muffin Man

There's nothing like beginning the day with some fresh, homemade muffins.  And, lucky for me, I know the Muffin Man personally.  Here you can see him carefully poking blueberries into the muffins before having me pop them into the oven.

Oh.....by the way.....they were FABulous!

Lucky for us, we decided to head down to the beach first thing (after enjoying our melt-in-the mouth breakfast treats).

Pap-pap G was already hard at work

Unfortunately, this poor creature ended up being chopped up for bait.  No fishing luck today.

We pretty much had the beach to ourselves.

And, as it turned out, some little girl absolutely LOVED playing in the giant sandbox.

But it didn't take long before Gramma G decided that it was time to head back up to the house.  Which, ended up being the smartest decision of the day, because within short time, the same weather front that devastated Oklahoma towards the end of last weekend, barraged the Carolina shore for the remainder of the day.

Not to worry......we weren't lacking in having fun, that's for sure!

But we're still hoping that tomorrow will treat us with enjoyable beach weather so that we can enjoy the ocean, and get out and have some REAL fun!

I'll keep you posted.

Just Ducky

Beach Time!

Time to load up the car for our annual family trip to the beach.   And load up the car we did!  

We used to take four kids and all of their stuff.  Now, we only take stuff.  Good thing, too, because there doesn't seem to be room for any kids once we've loaded up!

The weather was great.  The traffic was surprisingly light.  And we even managed to arrive earlier than planned.  

It appears that Marty's "shortcut" must have been legit this year.    (The first year he decided to try a shortcut for this particular location, despite us all leaving home at the same time,  the kids arrived an hour before we did and they live 125 miles further from the ocean than we do.)

In all honesty, today's "shortcut" wasn't about saving time.  It's about dodging a $6.00 toll that was recently imposed on the main highway to the OuterBanks that is obviously set up to target vacationers, since the fee doubles on the weekend.  We've redirected this route in the past, and found it to add only about 2 minutes to the drive.  Well worth the savings for the slight inconvenience.  At least Marty thought so.

But, this year, when Marty set up Tom Tom for the trip, he clicked on the "avoid toll roads" option.  So we exited when instructed without much thought.

Soon, we were driving in what appeared to be No Man's Land.  Don't believe me?  Well, let's just say that our travels found us driving through Dismal Swamp. 

And, just when we wondered if we made the wrong decision, Marty noticed the road sign:  Short Cut Road.  Divine Providence, perhaps?  

Well, we did arrive earlier than expected, and managed to pick up the keys and get the car unloaded way ahead of schedule.  The only downfall was a power outage shortly after our arrival, but that was remedied within a few hours.

And, it wasn't long until we were Relaxin' at the beach

So......do you think that I might be having fun?

A Mother's Day Treat

I've been blessed with years of exciting Mother's Day celebrations.  One of my favorite memories was the year Marty and the kids gave me a shirt that Marty thought said "Surf Mama".

 I remember opening the package and pulling out the shirt, three kids (our youngest wasn't born yet) excitedly waiting with anticipation as I carefully unwrapped the paper on the box, looked at the front of the shirt and became quite confused as I read what was printed on it.

I mouthed the letters out loud.    S-U-R-F  M-A-N-I-A.  ????

Marty excitedly said, "SURF MAMA".

 I looked at the words again.  Surf Mama?  Nope.....

It definitely said, "Surf Mania".  Marty seemed quite surprised.  The kids thought it was great.  I have video footage of me actually wearing the shirt.....so a good time was had by all.

Unfortunately, this year my Mother's Day didn't involve time spent with any of my children.  But I wasn't sad about that, because I am so fortunate to enjoy them throughout the year.

And since I was in Takoma Park, in a lovely Bed & Breakfast, I had the luxury of simply walking down the stairs and having breakfast made for me.......no cooking, no cleaning up, no dog to worry about.  Just a lovely meal with entertaining conversation.  Quite a treat to be sure!


And, since we found ourselves just 4 miles from the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception National Shrine, what better place to celebrate Mother's Day Mass?

The mass was beautiful and, afterwards, all of the Mothers in the church received a special blessing and were presented a flower.

What a lovely gesture!

We spent some time walking through the various shrines in the church.  Each one was unique and absolutely beautiful.  Here are just a few.

Lithuania

Shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa

Shrine to the Miraculous Medal

We had several hours of driving time ahead of us, so we left soon after Mass to face the crazy drivers on the beltway.  We were nearly home when we found ourselves in a sudden traffic jam.  We presumed that there had been some sort of accident, but then we noticed that there were groups of  people parked and sitting on the side of this major highway.

We knew they weren't waiting for us to arrive, although I was tempted to roll down the window, smile, and wave, just to see if I got some sort of reaction.  We were debating whether or not we should bail off the highway at the next exit, when I spotted a large number of Amish people along the side of the road.

Even the horses were hanging out, as you can see the buggy in the background here.

We never did quite determine what was happening, although I can attest to the fact that there were miles of vehicles going the opposite direction.....fire engines and tractor trailers, lights flashing, sirens peeling, horns blasting.

We realized that this caravan must have just been ahead of us, exited the highway,  re-entered on the opposite side,  and were now driving in a different direction.  And it went on for miles and miles, several highway exits, as a matter of fact.

I could kind of connect the Amish spectators with the John Deere semi's, or the milk trucks, but when I spotted Santa Claus on a firetruck.....I'll admit, I questioned just what in the world was going on here.

To be quite honest, I never bothered to find out what this special occasion involved after I arrived home, but it certainly was entertaining spotting so many people enjoying the day outside, waving at the passing vehicles.

Now, if you can fill me in on the connection between the Amish - Firetrucks - Santa - Tractor Trailers and miles of vehicles, I'll be more than happy to read your observations. I have the feeling that one you blog followers will be able to solve the mystery.

In the meantime, I hope that the moms out there had an equally exciting day, although I think it's going to be difficult to beat this kind of excitement.  But you never know....one of you just may surprise me.

Until next time........