Not Your Average Ferris Wheel: Currently we are singing the praises of Connecticut

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Currently we are singing the praises of Connecticut

Who knew Connecticut was so beautiful? We now know this simple little fact. Most of Connecticut's shores border Long Island Sound. Hammonasset Beach State Park is two miles of that shore. Camping near the beach has been refreshing. Though we hear the sounds of I-95 from our trailer instead of the soothing sounds of waves crashing against the shore, being in the close vicinity of the beach is the advantage and it has allowed us to do something we haven't done in years- take sunset walks to the beach with both kids three nights in a row.

So we are currently...

sharing the beach at sunset with our children. This is something we used to do regularly when we'd summer in Cape Cod before children. Now we've finally figured out how to time it so that we are done with dinner by 6 and walking to the beach by 7. Rhode Island was great and all but the beach was a 15 minute drive!

Spending time outdoors with our children. Despite our loud, obnoxious neighbors across from us and our fire obsessed neighbors next to us, we've been enjoying our sweet shady spot at this campground of mostly exposed sites.

Saving the numbers of sites that we plan to try to book for next year. Although we are enjoying the shade, our site is tiny and we found some sites on the other side of the campground that are closer to the beach, much bigger in size that even boast some shade.

Going for a drive instead of staying at the beach. We had one beach day that was a complete disaster. No naps for both kids meant crank city. We had to breakdown our beach fort and head for the hills. Both kids were passed out within minutes and we got to drink caffeine and explore the two neighboring towns.

Speaking in hushed tones about the crazy neighbors. Seriously. They had about 6-8 adults and 14 kids. Three sites. Directly across from us. However, even if we had screamed to each other, they wouldn't have heard us. What with all the spontaneous karaoke and clapping at 10:30 at night. That was definitely not us who called the park police. No sir.

Cole is currently ...

Saving his pee and poop to the very. Last. Minute. No fun. No fun at all. Especially not when the other parent is no where to be seen (some people like to go to the potty in privacy, Geez!!) and you have the baby to carry along. Well. She's seen just about everything. Hopefully she's a good little bathroom goer when it's her turn. Hopefully she isn't taking notes on all of his trickery. "Are you sure you don't have to pee?" "No! I'm not sure!" "What? You have to pee?" "No!! I don't have to pee!!!" (Parent's head spins.)

Sharing none of his toys. "That's my toy!" is a regularly uttered phrase around here. And she's only 6 months old. Oh boy.

Spending time with his new friend. Remember those crazy camping neighbors? Yeah well, they had a 5-year-old in their midst and she was so sweet and friendly that Cole was just about losing his marbles by the last day when he didn't see her at all in the morning and her bicycle was still on our site! Gasp! Anyway, the two were so cute together. We got to watch Cole be his intense self with another child. "Why are you wearing your helmet?" "Because I want to." "Take your helmet off!" "No! I don't have to!" "Please take your helmet off!!" Over and over until she threatened to leave our site if he didn't stop pressuring her. Finally I intervened and told him in plain language what would happen if he continued. He said "Put my helmet on, Mama." We also got to watch him "read" her books (even though she totally offered to actually read to him. But no. That's not Cole's style. No one's going to one up him!

Speaking in tongue or not speaking at all. Instead he'll do a hum yelling or speak so quickly we have absolutely no idea what he is saying. I attribute most of this to jealousy and some as just his age. A lot of the speaking in tongues is him rhyming, making up words or names. But some of it is in direct imitation of Bevin or reaction to attention she is getting that he is not.

Going on a nature hike with Mama on the beach. He had so much fun, he didn't want to go back to Daddy and Bevin.

Cole wants to nap in the tent, but he just can't get comfortable.

Napping in the car, however uncomfortable it looks, is never a problem, though. (Thank God for that)

Keith actually pushed this thing onto the beach. Don't ask me how.

Also known as Mama camp hair...( yes we buy her $20 organic teething pads and all she does is chew on the straps. And yes that is a new carrier. The Ergo performance to be exact)