fun at the ocean

We went to the beach. No let me re-state that. We went to the ocean! Ahhhhhhhhh I just love the ocean! The smell, the sounds, even the gulls flying over head. First time this summer. It was nice for us to get away from the farm for a day...or so
 Now let me fill you in on our adventure! (Long post and some pics are headed your way! Go get some coffee, and a cookie, I'll wait.)
My husband had to work and couldn't come. My mom came and picked up the kiddos and I. One of my sisters takes a vacation down to the ocean every year for a week. So she invited us down for the day. The motel she stays at has a pool, hot tub, sauna, and like 5 grills, a patio, play area, and best of all is about 500 feet from the ocean! The kiddos were up at 6am, I think they were a little excited, 9am didn't come fast enough for them. I brought my knitting and worked on that on the drive. It was a beautiful day, full sun with just a light breeze. We get to the beach and the kiddos took off for the water. Once they hit the water they let out a little yelp. The Atlantic Ocean is never warm. It was cold! It was low tide when we got there and could go way out.  They had boogie boards to ride the waves and all! Ahhh just a day of fun, and laying in the sun! Just what we needed. Time just is not an issue on your day off, and you get home whenever you get there! The kiddos thoroughly enjoyed playing, as did I!
Here is what we listened to...

Us in the ocean!!
We had a picnic on the hotel patio late in the day. While I was grilling the kiddos played in the pool, heated you know. It was nice for them to go in because they were chilly after the ocean. They liked the hot tub too! I got hot in the sun grilling so I ran and jumped in the pool. I did a cannon ball in the water and came up on the kiddos. They thought that was funny. I felt better and went and finished grilling. More fun on the beach after lunch.

 My view most of the day. Unless I was in the water playing with the kiddos. Not a lot of people there either!

The waves! Ahhhhhhhhh so beautiful!

Well later that evening when we were getting ready to leave, someone in the hotel asked us when we came up from the beach if had the silver van. Yes, was our response. We were told we had a flat tire. Very flat. (No pics, had put the camera in the motel room, or I'd have 100000000 pictures.  I have lots more, but won't put them on.) No problem. Just dig out the spare and head on out. The kiddos went up to the motel and went in the pool. They didn't care, it just meant more time in water with their cousins! Well it took us a few minutes to find the spare. Some "genius" that designed this newer van decided the back is not a good place for a spare. No they put in in the front between the driver and passenger seat underneath. Because that's SUPER convenient to get out let me tell you. NOT. Well we get that out and low and behold again some genius had a donut for the spare!! (For those of you who don't know, a donut is a much smaller tire, and not ideal for long travels to drive on, and you can only go 50mph on them). My parents had recently bought this van too, so they had no idea this was the case. OK, not so cool for a long drive on the highway ... now what. Well we took the flat tire off and found not 1 but 2 screws in it! OMW! We were so thankful that this happened in the safety of the parking lot and not on the highway! We put the donut on and thought what would be our best move. You know there are some folks who always have an opinion and are rather loud and free with their advice, well we had one of those, but choose not to go with it. We did have some help from the motel manager, he was helpful. Well, we sent my sister to the store to get a new tire mounted and balanced. That sounded like a good idea. She called a while later. My mom, other sister and the kiddos were fixing up a late supper for the sleepy, hungry kiddos when she called. Walmart told her they would only sell her 4 new tires, but they closed in 10 minutes. We were about 20 or so minutes away. Not gonna work, and we only needed 1 tire, not 4! Then she went to VIP. They said sure, we can do that, tomorrow at 1:30. SOoooooooooooo Mom and I decided at that point (it was late and no one else was open) we would just stay the night and go to VIP the next day. We called our husbands and told them. Then got our room. My sister had to leave and do chores at her farm and couldn't stay and play. My other sister was staying until the next day anyways so we were gonna party! We got showers and settled in and got an extra cot for the room. Snacks and some TV on the beds, and a very late night for all of us. All and all it was fine!
The next morning we walked down to the pier and got some DD coffee near the ocean. Mmmmmmmmmm iced coffee after a long late night was a must have.

 My babies foot print in the sand.

My kiddos walking down to the pier with the ocean lapping their feet. When we got back we had to check out of the motel, and sat on the beach for an hour or so. We still needed to kill time and the kiddos didn't like just looking at the ocean. We had no place for a bathroom, changing or block from the sun. Everything was packed. So we went shopping for a while, had a "tailgate" party in the parking lot for lunch, then packed up and headed to VIP to get the new tire. We get there and they said it would be a hour, but maybe two hours before they could get it done. This was now 1:30 when they said it could be done. Now what?! We parked in the shade, got some chairs and blankets out. Then walked down to the DD that was right down the road and my mom treated the kiddos to a coolatta, my sister and I got iced coffee, and mom got tea, unsweetened. Then walked back to VIP and hung out there for over two hours. We had an adventure, and the kiddos were great! We had food, water and shade, and some grass for them to play in. We all wished we could have gone back to the beach, but didn't have enough room in my sisters little car. I was very glad I brought my knitting. I'm working on a new baby blanket for a friend. Nope not to get paid for it, but a gift! I'll show you that soon too. When the van was fixed we left for home. It was 4pm when we left. The ride home was uneventful, thankfully! All and all the whole thing was great fun! An adventure I think the kiddos will remember for a very long time!
We got home for chores, late chores. The cows were waiting for us, my husband wasn't home, and the kiddos needed to eat...I did also notice that my husband had put down some hay. That's what we will be doing this weekend...my day of relaxing at the beach seems like it was a long time ago!
Have a great weekend all. I'll have some pics of haying to share soon I'm sure!