With Kevin gearing up for another grueling year teaching smarter-than-us undergrads, he asked for one last trip to the beach.
When the weather finally agreed, we were on the road.
Some favorites:
The beach! The kids were very into splashing in the waves, and the littlest Davis-Ross was the most enthusiastic. He would stampeded toward the water. When Kevin would walk him, Thomas's forward momentum was so great he'd just fall down - those chubby little legs wouldn't keep up with the rest of him. As Kevin noted, "there's just not enough ocean for him."
Nor for Kevin, I suspect. What he'd like more than anything is some fun time splashing in the ocean, without the continual threat of children drifting off to sea. If given half a chance, I think Thomas would take that option.
Other highlights include hitting the boardwalk, which involved some serious ride negotiations and a bit of height fibbing. We suggested that Lucy was tall enough to ride the bumper cars - perhaps what she wanted to do more than anything, rainbow sprinkled ice cream included - only to have the attendant tell us it's not a safety regulation but an operational one: she may not be able to reach the pedals. But, she could, and riding in her "pink" car* made her happier than she'd been all day, even if she could only spin in circles. Peter put more "bump" in bumper cars, but both just enjoyed driving a car.
We timed our ice cream stop to coincide with Thomas's nap, but didn't give him the shrift again when it came to rides. He happily boarded the carousel with all of us, and as the bigger kids rode their rides he enjoyed all sorts of free entertainment on the little rides scattered around. I'd forgotten how easy it is to keep this age so occupied and happy. Why put a quarter in the machine? (That's why I have Kevin around to remind me, when I do silly thinks like suggest he take the baby on the balloon ride. What?)
long walks down the boardwalk mean lots of big-kid carrying
so as to avoid the late-afternoon crankfest;
it certainly helps burn off the fudge and ice cream and pizza
After a last trip to the bathroom, two free fudge samples**, and a classy street-side pajama change, FDR was back on the road, Pennsylvania-bound. It was still light when we got home, but all three children were peacefully asleep, dreaming, I'm sure, of salty water and limitless fudge samples and pink baby dolls with pink pacifiers and pink milky bottles.
*There's a huge range of colors which qualify as "pink" for Lucy. Thankfully. There's always pink around, in her eyes. More than once Peter and Lucy have glommed onto an object, calling it in equal measure "red" and "pink," neither contradicting the other, each perfectly happy with his interpretation of the world.
**Savvy Lucy spotted a change in fudge sample personnel, and immediately said, "I want more FUDGE!!!!"
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