Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Kenny and Tyler’s Visit - The Second Installment of a Five Week Series - Preserving Memories

For the Record
Kenny and Tyler’s Visit
June 22 - July 27, 2014

I am pretty sure that Kenny and Ty won’t remember this time many years from now. 
These posts will be for them to read when that time comes.

Writing this on Tuesday, June 24

One of the difficulties of my grandsons’ visit is that they won’t get to spend very much time with their father.   That’s because Jimmy started a new job a few month’s ago and doesn’t have any vacation time accrued yet. 
He gets to spend a couple of hours in the morning with them before he leaves for work.   His schedule is 11:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  He gets back to our house at about 10:00 p.m.

Yesterday we kept the kids active most of the day.  We went to the pool in the morning.  Then we came home and had lunch.  After lunch we made a  stop at the Surf City 5&10 to get sand pails and shovels before we went to the beach. 
The weather was perfect.  Temperatures were in the mid 70’s and the humidity was low.  Even though the ocean was rough those boys couldn’t wait to get into the water.  The first wave knocked Tyler completely over and under.  He jumped right back up, ready to battle the next wave. 
They squealed and laughed as they jumped and chased the waves. 

When they finally had enough, they snuggled under their towels to dry off and munch on a snack.  They had to hold their pretzel sticks close, to hide them from the gulls who were not so patiently waiting to make their move.

Ross and I, well okay it was mostly me, had the brilliant idea to get one of those beach carts.  I convinced him that it would eliminate us having to lug chairs on our backs and be loaded down with beach bags, towels, sand toys, snacks.   We could just pile everything into the cart.
“After all”, I said, it has those big wheels so it will be easy to push/pull in the sand.
In order to protect the beaches from further erosion,  especially after Super Storm Sandy left the Jersey shore pretty much decimated, the beaches have been built high up with dunes of sand.
That means the walk to the water is down a steep hill.  Easy peasy to pull cart down the embankment.  The walk back up, though, yikes!   We actually had to stop to rest a couple of times.  We were a huffin’ and puffin’ that’s for sure.
I’m not sure if the cart is the better option.

Oh my goodness, I have forgotten how such small bodies can hold so much sand.  Even though they hose rinsed, it was like having two real life Pig Pen’s shedding sand all along the way.
Needless to say, the bathroom and shower floors were turned into their own mini beaches.

Dinner was my famous home made gravy and meatballs piled on top of a plate full of ziti.  Either it was really good or they were really hungry, but they both chowed down.
Desert was four scoops of Blue Bunny Chocolate ice cream for Kenny and five pretzel sticks for Ty.
Then, what I am sure seemed like forever for both kids, was the wait and anticipation of Daddy coming home.  They sat on the sofa so they had a full view of the front door.  They would ask every once-in-awhile how long before Daddy would be home.  They fought with valor to keep their eyes open.
At 9:50, at the sound of our squeaky front door, they both jumped up and into Daddy’s outstretched arms.

After spending a full day with Kenny and Ty, it is so dearly obvious how close they are.  They are each other’s playmate, confidant and most importantly comfort for one another.

A Lesson For Me Today From Tyler
Rico is one of those small yappy, barky dogs.  He makes a ruckus whenever we come through the door.   My first and automatic response is always, “Rico, Quiet!”
Tyler said to me, “Why?”  “He is only happy to see us.”
And here all along I thought he was just trying to annoy me.  I guess I never noticed the grin on his face like Ty did.



8 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great day. Sandy, but great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a good day. We all slept quite soundly.

      Delete
  2. I love the lesson you learned! That is good stuff, isn't it? So glad you are having this time with the boys. You and they will remember it always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kids look at things so simply and straight forward. Watching them at the beach reminds me of how wonderful it is to unreservedly dance and sing with the waves.

      Delete
  3. That is a hard schedule for your son to work and try to get to see his boys. It is good it is summer and they can stay up and spend time with him. Sounds like a fun day at the beach, though, sand and all!

    betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a little upsetting that my son doesn’t have as much time to spend with the boys as he would love to be able to have. But the time he does have makes it all the more precious.

      Delete
  4. Beach tip...baby powder on dry sand takes it off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey thanks for that info. I didn’t know about it.

      Delete