I grew up with the Long Island Sound practically in my backyard.....and I took it for granted. I was never a sun bather, so unlike my sun worshipper friends I did not feel the need to lay out on the beach....and unfortunately, the Long Island beach (Sunken Meadow) has many, many rocks - lots of them being sharp! Combined with murky-ish water and my fear of not being able to see my feet and what I'm swimming with - like sharks!....my love affair with the beach was limited to evening bonfire parties, senior skip days and people watching.
My Landlocked Southern Husband has no pressing passion for the beach - he thinks the water is too cold......unless we're in the Caribbean, then we both LOVE the beach! So after living away from the ocean for so long (3+ years), when I returned to the East Coast my closest desire to returning to the beach was in the form of attending concerts at Jones Beach....until my Colorado based gal pal Aubrey said, "hey! let's take the kids to the beach!"
So I caved, we packed up and drove down to the shoreline to explore the CT side of the Long Island Sound. (Some people might question why we didn't go to the OCEAN. The answer in simple, we didn't want the kids to have any reason to fear the water due to large waves, the Sound is closer and a middle point from our homes.
......we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the beach! The sand is smooth, the water is refreshing, the people are nice and I can see my toes! Tripp can't get enough - he loves the sand and surf!
Thanks Aubrey & Penelope!
Thanks Aubrey & Penelope!
I also rediscovered the activity of sandcastle building. Tripp of course demanded sand Snake!
One day it was a snake, then a snake eating a fish, then many many small castles so Tripp could play Godzilla and smash them all. Sand Fish decorated with rocks, seaweed and matchbox cars :) 
And of course they needed to be car friendly - Vroom, Vroom!
And of course they needed to be car friendly - Vroom, Vroom!
Look Mama, Boat!
Tripp, king of all wild things, said "I'll eat you up!"
Tripp & Penny model their "Mermaid Seaweed"
We dug a hole and the kids took turns standing in it and pouring water onto their feet
Ella & Tripp buried in the sand
little piggies
Napping on the beach
You can see the quality of picture has been slowly declining throughout these pictures....sadly, my camera died this day. RIP my little Cannon Power Shot. You did me right for 3 jam packed years.Unfortunately this means that there are no more good beach pictures to accompany our many, many glorious days of beach lovin :(
Not to worry! I have done my research and will be buying a new camera very, very soon!
But, as you know...I HAVE to take pictures! We went to the beach several more times before I knew I had to find a quick temporary fix. So I went to Walgreen's and bought a $10 kid's digi camera - terrible quality. I guess that's why it was $10!
While we waited for our friends Beth, Evan & Nora to join us, Tripp made quick friends with a near by toddler. He yelled "hey, kid!" as he ran down to the water to introduce himself
Friends Beth, Nora & Evan join us
Evan (5)
Evan (5), Nora (2)
The beach was crowded that day. Tripp loved it, a bigger audience, more kids to play with and more big kids! (Tripp loves big kids)
Us swimming.
Tripp wears a life vest and loves his independence, he swims along side of me.
We're pretty far out, I'm treading water!Nudie beach booty!
Tripp was cold, cold. So I stripped him of his wet clothes and swimmie diaper and wrapped him in a towel for snack time. When he was dry and re-fueled he jumped off my lap and started playing in the sand before I could get a diaper on him! In this pic, I've told him that I'm coming to get him and diaper him - he's up and running! Yup, I had to chase that little nudie booty baby around the beach! Good thing everyone taught it was wildly entertaining :)I finally got that diaper on him!
