Fish Envy

 Yesterday began watching the sun rise, enjoying the sunset, and a whole lot sandwiched in between. 

Who wouldn't delight in starting the day with this happy kid for entertainment? 

And, as you can see, he was surely the center of early morning attention!

While PapPap ventured out in hopes of some luck with ocean fishing, Gramma G tried her hand at keeping 5 kiddos actively involved in helping her make some morning Cheese Danish.

The youngest was sandwiched in between the two oldest, who were quite willing to try to keep him out of trouble.  And he even managed to make his own Danish base, albeit a little lopsided.  But hey, he's two!  

And let me just say, for the record, those danish were DELICIOUS!

One of the great features of this place is that we can actually keep an eye on PapPap while he fishes!

No morning fish for him, though.

After breakfast, we headed down to the beach, which is just a short trip up and over a dune, then down the stairs to a pristine beach. 

 Yesterday was pretty quiet,  with scattered people in the distance, but this house is situated between two Sunday rentals, so I anticipate a LOT more activity today.  

The water was a bit cool, and it was exceedingly windy, adding a bit of a chill if situated in the shade, but that didn't keep these kiddies out of the water!

 

Leona was quite content to sit on the beach and play in the sand....and get other people to fetch the water for her.  She tried one trip to the ocean's edge, and scampered back in quick time when the waves crashed near her toes.  She was having none of THAT!

Aunt Amy had a little pep talk with her, and before we knew it, Leona was asking me if I would like to hold her hand while she stood in the ocean!  She didn't have to ask me twice!

She kept saying, let's go a little closer, Gramma, and before we knew it, she was up to her knees in the water, screaming with delight!  (I don't know what Amy said to her, but I'm calling her the Wave Whisperer.)  

How's that for a complete turnaround?

While Leona delighted in her newfound love of the ocean, Pap Pap was trying to share his love of fishing.  Not too many eager fans there!  But this one was a bit curious.

when he wasn't crashing sand castles!

Marty did manage to catch a mullet.  Since I was hand holding in the ocean, I asked Jim to take a photo so that I could share it.  Marty happily posed with his catch.

But I heard later that there was a bit more to the photo shoot that appears at first glance. 

I'll let you come to your own conclusions on that one.

The rest of the day, Marty watched with envy as a man just up the beach a bit reeled in a bluefish.  Of course, he had to head over there to strike up a conversation to glean any secrets to the man's success.  There were a couple more fish reeled in as well, so Marty is eager to see if he has better luck today.

After a full day in the ocean, we headed back for some pool time near the house.

The evening involved another delicious dinner, and relaxing while watching the sun set from the front porch. 

I'll leave you here with some special photos

Family memories:  you just can't get enough!

A Memorable Celebration

 Yesterday, this little guy turned TWO!

And what better place to celebrate than at the beach?  We all loaded up our cars and spent the day driving, in mostly dreary weather, towards the coast.  Amy was along with Marty and me for the drive, and she chose Yorktown Battlefield as our scheduled lunch stop.  We figured that we might as well enjoy our afternoon respite in a pleasant location.

We stopped into the visitor center to use the facilities, and were greeted by a very chatty park ranger who was eager to share the perks that Yorktown had to offer.  And, to be quite frank, she convinced us that it would be well worth a trip to visit sometime in the future. 

She also introduced us to Mrs. Martha Washington who has apparently delighted visitors for at least five years.  Martha seemed quite eager to make our acquaintance.  (Personally, I think she was eager to share our lunch.)

We decided to drive down to the waterfront parking lot to enjoy our sandwiches. 

As you can see, it was much more entertaining than sitting at a public rest stop.  

Feeling refreshed, we piled back into the loaded car and continued our drive south to the North Carolina beaches with our destination of Corolla. And as our anticipation mounted when we crossed the bridge over the sound...watching the sun peek out from behind the clouds, we found ourselves sitting in traffic unlike no other we had experienced in our past adventures on this island.  It took us over an hour to drive that last 13 miles to reach our destination.  But upon arrival, we were awed by our chosen accommodations, and ready to celebrate. 

After a scrumptious dinner of home made Lasagna, compliments of Stacey,  it was nearly time to blow out those candles.  Gramma spent some time helping this little guy practice.  First...a big breath...

then blow!

Then it was time!

In the end, it took a few huffs and puffs to blow out those two candles, but there were cheers from all when he managed to successfully snuff them out.  Certainly a fun time for all.  

And, speaking of fun......there's nothing quite like a Micky tattoo (or three) to add to the excitement.

After the celebration, I took a few photos from our beach house.

Ocean view:

Sound view"

Boy view:

As I type this blog, I'm sitting in bed, watching the sun rise through the sliding glass door of my bedroom, listening to the waves crashing on the shore.  I don't know about you, but I'd say that it doesn't get much better than this!  

So, here's to the start of a week of fun!  I'l try to keep you posted.  

Cousin Fun in Lititz

 Lititz has always been one of my favorite small towns to visit, and it's no wonder why it makes the "Top Ten list of small towns in Pennsylvania."  The historic streets are well preserved and the shops and houses are are beautifully kept.  So, it seemed the perfect destination to visit with Joshua for two reasons:  to share some of its unique history, and second, to visit the Wilbur Chocolate Store which helped to make this town famous. And let's face it.....who doesn't like chocolate?

To add to the day's excitement, we were able to share the experience with Joshua's cousins whom he rarely has an opportunity to see outside of FaceTime.  So, Stacey reserved a time slot at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery on the edge of town to start out the fun.  

For those of you unfamiliar with this story, Julius Sturgis was the first man to design the process for baking hard pretzels to sell to the consumer.   He built the brick ovens into the back of the building that served as the operational bakery as well as a store, and his residence as well.  He had 14 children to help with the process that resulted in the first commercial pretzel bakery in the United States. The original building still stands along the historic street just at the edge of the town limits.

We arrived a bit early, so we walked up the street a few blocks to the Lititz Historical Society where we admired the gardens in the back.  Look closely and you will see two ducks basking in the sun.

And, looking closer....I spied this cute little frog hanging out on a rock.

There were some lovely gardens

and, true to form, some interesting decor on the porches of some of the houses along the street.

Soon it was time to return for our pretzel tour. 

So, we met up with the cousins and headed inside for the tour.

The tour guide explained the history behind the house, and the process of making the pretzels back in the 1800's.  Then, everyone was given a ball of "dough" and instructions on how to make the perfect pretzel.

I'd say that did a fabulous job!

She also showed the baking ovens and explained more modern techniques, but I didn't take any photos of that.  After we were finished, we all went outside for pretzel photo.

It's not easy getting them all to smile at the same time, particularly when the sun is shining in one's eyes.  But, hey, we got most of them!

We walked down to the park, where a red caboose stands along the train tracks.  Marty took Joshua into the caboose for a tour.  Apparently the man inside was thrilled to finally have someone stop in and take a look.

The rest of us waiting in the park, entertained by ducks.....lots of them!

And it seemed an eternity before Marty and Joshua exited that train!  Marty said the man was thrilled to have the audience and it was hard to break away, but Joshua was fascinated by the information, so it was definitely worth stopping in.

Just across the way there is Lititz park, where the kids could have a fabulous time playing on swings, slides, and in this case, a wooden train.

It was loads of fun.  We all lunched on a picnic that we had brought with us, then headed over to the Wilbur Chocolate building, which was limiting 15 people at a time inside the store.  Marty and I decided to forego entering, but the kids enjoyed seeing the women dipping the pretzels in chocolate through the glass window.

Treats were purchased.

And, obviously, enjoyed.

We then decided to stop at one more place before heading home.  There is a new playground called the Tree House in Lititz, and that was our destination.  How awesome is this?

The kids all were SO excited to see it and eager to enjoy its many fun features.

Everyone had a slide....or two or three....or, perhaps ten or more?

And there was a special area set up just for little tykes.

which this one thoroughly enjoyed.

Let's just say.... there was a LOT of fun had by all.

But the heat got the better of us, so we called it a day, parted ways, and headed home.

Another fabulous adventure made even sweeter by Wilbur Chocolate.  You just can't beat that, can you?