Happy Rosie in the Sand

We finally made it back to the beach after 4 years! There have been changes at Rehoboth Beach, with some favorite shops gone and replaced by new shops, but overall it's the same place that we love. The fig tree next door has died, so no more delicious free figs for me.

We arrived Saturday and have been to a few of our old standard restaurants (Stoney Lonen, Summer House, Nicola Pizza), and also tried the new Henlopen Oyster House. Monkeyrotica is the only one of us who ordered the oysters, so I'll vouch for their seafood -- very tasty! I'm really looking forward to dining at The Cultured Pearl (sushi -- need to make reservations) and the farmers market today. 

Playing in the sand remains Rosie and Dash's favorite pastime; we had to drag them off the beach yesterday after a few hours of digging/splashing. Auntie M, Bill, Beth, and I all went for a two-hour bike ride up the coast almost to the Ferry that takes people to Cape May. We may actually try the ferry tomorrow!

Other things we plan to do: go to Funland, swim in the ocean, try kayaking at Rehoboth Bay, paint some pottery, and go on more bike rides. 

I'll close with this: on our shopping trip yesterday, Rosie took this next photo of some tiny glass flowerpots in a gift shop:

The many faces of Alan

At the beach house this year, Monkeyrotica's HS buddy Alan decided to join us. He's a public school teacher in Baltimore and my kids just adore him. Rosie practically hangs on him and is constantly in his face—I caught her draped across his chest while he was trying (unsuccessfully!) to take a nap. We gave Rosie a camera to document our beach trip her own way, and this image is a compilation of what I found on the memory card.

To his credit, Alan has been great playing with them. Four and six-and-a-half year-olds are exhausting.

Rosie & Dash on the pony

Just like previous years, Rosie and Dash wanted a ride on the coin-op pony.

Only this year, a crazy, freak storm broke out right after their ride. The sky went black, lightning flashed, and thunder boomed. Once the wind started kicking up the sand into our eyes and a funnel was visible on the horizon, we started running for our lives!

Dash tripped, and I wasn't able to stop in time. I trod on his arm (lightly, I hope—due to my dance training). All's well, we got to the beach house immediately before the skies opened up & Dash only has a small bruise today.

Mommy chases me around the beach

I just found this drawing of Rosie's, dated 6/17/08, and remember the event clearly. She caught my expression of anxiety very well! Rosie can sprint, and I learned just how well on our beach trips to Rehoboth. She'd take off down the shoreline and before we knew it, she'd be almost out of sight. I'm so glad my dad & sister were there to watch Dash while I chased Rosie at full speed! I was SO angry at her for taking off without saying anything, but at the same time, I was impressed, thinking, We need to get this girl involved in track events!

While in Rehoboth, we rode our bikes around the area. During peak season, parking is at a premium and it's really just easier to grab the bikes and move out than to have to search for parking spaces. Rehoboth is very bike and bike-rental friendly; they even rent trailers for kids as well as some interesting contraptions that are like bike/golf carts that ride six or more people (more if you have kids riding on the rack in front). We rented a 2nd trailer, since Rosie is too long-legged these days for mine. The Burley trailer converts to a double-stroller, which was great! You'll see Grandaddy Jim with his helmet on to the left.

In the north part of Rehoboth, there is Henlopen State Park, which has a bird sanctuary at Gordon's Pond with an observation deck for viewing different birds across a wetland. Strangely, I saw more interesting birds wading in a canal across from a "tot lot". In the pic below, you'll see a great blue heron, posing grandly for me. I only noticed after I got home that he is presiding over a log with about six turtles on it! (Were they going to be his lunch? We didn't stay to find out.)

The tot lot was a destination at least once daily for the kids; they got to run around, swing, and climb for a little while before getting tucked back into the trailer.

Rosie liked to run up to the top and scramble back down, while Dash was happy to run around and bang on the different playground materials.


We found plenty of great places to have lunch and dinner; breakfast was prepped by us at the beach house. A few restaurants I'd recommend as very tasty and kid-friendly were The Summer House, Go Fish! (oh so delicious!), Stoney Lonen, and Jake's Seafood. We made two trips each to Summer House and Stoney Lonen, and I would have loved to go to Go Fish! another time. When I go back, I'd like to try out a Japanese restaurant if possible; my current traveling companions aren't fond of it, so I'll have to be under different circumstances.

Scandalizing the governor

After a long, sunny, sandy day on the beach, we dragged ourselves back to our beach house, which coincidentally, is right next door to the former governor of Delaware. Since we were all covered with sand (and gravel for me, wiped out 2X playing in the breakers), I took advantage of the outdoor shower to rinse off before going inside. Both kids were freaked out by the shower jets, but Dash started to calm down once I picked him up and rinsed him off while holding him. I handed him off to Auntie M. and then decided to take off my suit while I rinsed Rosie so I could carry her in and not waste time rinsing separately. Rosie screamed bloody murder. The entire time. I was just reaching for her towel when the governor peeked around to see what the commotion was (and he's quite deaf, so she was LOUD) and caught me and Rosie in the nude. Yeep! He only said, "one little girl is creating all that noise?" and quickly disappeared after assessing the situation.

Role reversal

Hello from the beach! I'm back in Rehoboth with the kids, my dad and sister (Auntie M.). Rosie didn't nap during the drive at all, so I got to hear a lot of "are we there yet? no. are we there yet? no." (thank you, Shrek 2) from the backseat. Rosie showed unusual interest in the beach itself along the way, which is strange because she normally avoids water, and when we finally hit the sand, actually had a fantastic time in the water! She was dragging us in, shrieking and jumping, yelling, again! again! more! She really was disappointed when it was time to go.

Dash, who is normally my water-lover, screamed no mommy no! from the instant he set eyes on his swim trunks (on the beach, yes I changed my son in front of all the beachgoers; is that a faux pas?). He made the sandcastles today and didn't set foot in the ocean. Wierd, but I guess it's all developmental stages. He was upset when we left, too, but more because he wanted to continue amassing seashells for his new collection.

I'll be here all week! I'm sending from my phone (a Sidekick).

I'm blaming the Froot Loops

The kids were stalling at bedtime until 9:45 p.m.! (completely unheard of!) and still seemed to have plenty of energy. I think it was the SUGAR from the treat I gave them for dessert:

FROOT LOOPS!

The stalling cascaded into other delays for me: the kids and I are leaving on a trip early Saturday morning, so I want to have all the packing done by Friday night.

After I finished the dishes, it was 10:30. When I finished (most of) the laundry for the trip, it was after midnight. I set a load of whites to wash on hot, and went to bed.

Then, Dash woke up: he couldn't find his water cup (it was under his stuffed owl). Then he woke up again: he wanted milk. Then he woke up again: he wanted more milk. It occurred to me after the third time that maaaaaybe it was something else. His bedroom is right over the laundry room, so I asked him if the washer and the water pipes were too noisy.

"Djeeaah!" was the affirmative. Off went the washing machine, and me to bed at, I don't know? 1:30 a.m.? 2? I got up at 5:45 for work.

The previous three nights I've been up till midnight trying to finish a newsletter before our trip and I was really hoping to get some sleep last night. Here's my plea to the universe: please let me get some solid sleep tonight so I can be completely awake for the 3-hour drive to Delaware tomorrow!!!

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I still say the Froot Loops started it. Or maybe my logic is impaired by sleep deprivation?

I want to ride SOMETHING!

rosiendashonnahorsie
Originally uploaded by nylonthread.

Rosie likes to be non-specific when she makes requests. For example, if she wants Daddy to let her eat chocolates, she'll say, "I want somebody to give me something brown to eat!" So, when she told me "I want to ride something!" when we were out for a walk, I really didn't have a good reference for what she meant. This photo is what she meant.

photos from our end-of-summer beach trip

I took the kids to Rehoboth at the end of September along with my sister and dad. My dad was THRILLED to be introducing his adored (and only) grandson to the Atlantic, one of his great childhood loves. You can really feel the elation in this image of them both. However, Dash was a little circumspect about the crashing waves; he was a good sport, but it was hard to be sure whether he was enjoying himself.

Here's a photo that Auntie M. took of me and Dash, playing it cool.

And I can't leave without posting Auntie M. with Rosie and her freshly created unicorn, Vella (most creatively named by Rosie, herself). Vella was "born" at at Rehoboth store (most certainly a chain) called "Wacky Bear Factory". Woo.