We LOVE Uncle Chris and Amanda

Chris and Amanda do an amazing job of being the BESTEST Uncle and Aunt to my kids. On top of making them feel special about the everyday things going on in their lives... they make a point at doing special things with them and sharing their time with us. While in NJ visiting my friend, we stayed with my brother and Amanda and got to have an extra day of summer fun with them when Amanda suggested we go to the Jersey shore for the day!

We (me in particular) are lake people. Growing up going to the Adirondacks and now living a stones throw away from my parents lake, I don't think about going to the ocean much, nor is it a vacation that we have done with our kids, so it was so great to get a taste of it for the day. Chris took the day off from work and Amanda brought us to Bradley beach - an area on the shore she knew well. The weather was hot, the sand was perfect, the beach was not too crowded and all was good. It was such an awesome memory for my kids and neat for me to see them be able to have this day, this memory, be with Chris and Amanda. We love you guys!!

Chris teaching Natalie how to swim with the waves. She had only been to the Ocean one other time and was a toddler then... so she had never been out in the Ocean water "fighting" the waves. Chris and Natalie loved it and even learned how to chase the waves in. (On the other hand, Colin wasn't so sure about the waves and was even a little nervous about getting his toes wet... Sadie liked it enough until a wave got her and then she was done with the water for a while...)

Beach Time!

The reality check of this day was that I still do have three children and am constantly reminded by them that when you have kids, no event will go as you expect or want - thus keeping you on your toes and always re-defining what a successful event is. I was hoping and envisioning this day as pure bliss... the kids endlessly playing in the sand, running back and forth from the waves, maybe Colin taking a little snooze under the umbrella - while I read my book and enjoyed listening to their laughter. Well, that picture perfect moment lasted about 30 minutes and maybe 2 paragraphs of my book. Then it quickly turned into, "I'm hungry", "Can I have a snack," "I need to go to the bathroom," "Can we go to the playground," "What are we having for dinner," "When are we going to leave," and so on and so forth.... I found myself getting very annoyed at their apparent lack of understanding of how to enjoy the ocean and the opportunities that we were giving them. I had to keep telling myself that although they were not exactly acting like it, that they would appreciate this day and would be able to hold onto the memory forever. Sounds good, right??