Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | July 10, 2016

Another day at the beach, bright, sunny, warm, and gorgeous! Mark and Sam played with his new bouncing on water ball (orange of course, picked by Sam) and we all tried to get some relaxation in.

Sam played a lot of Barbie on the beach this year, which she has never done. Krista got roped in to helping to make clothes for Barbie out of seaweed. Better her than me…

Oh, it’s a hard life! Doesn’t she look exhausted?

As I mentioned previously, the 4th of July was quite a washout. I had brought a ton of glowsticks and whatnot for the kids to play with on the beach while we were waiting for fireworks. That didn’t happen. So, we decided to make our own 4th of July later that week. One night at dusk, Mark, Adam and I took the kids to the beach to light sparklers and play with glowsticks. We were all shocked to see something we had not seen before, in all the years we have been coming to the beach — a turtle! He (or she) was just strolling along the beach near the dunes.  Sam was just about ready to scream with excitement!

We left the turtle to his journey and went on with the fun! The wind made lighting the sparklers challenging, but we managed. Adam got that fun job! Better him than me…Hmmm…that’s starting to sound familiar. 😉

The kids loved it, of course!

After sparklers were done, we gave them glowsticks. They were originally in a foam casing to look sort of like light sabers but both Sam and Maddox preferred them out of the foam because they were brighter. They had quite the sword fights!

The next day at the beach, Maddox tried to teach Sam some of the karate moves he has been learning. I don’t know that she got it, but she was certainly paying attention.

Ryder liked the tidal pool that was there most of the week, as did most of the little kids. It grew every day until it was huge!

She got him, she got him!

Come on in, the water is great!

It was back to the boardwalk that night, and on to spooky golf! Sam couldn’t believe we were finally in there. It was hard to get her to actually golf because she was so busy looking around! Grandmom and I both got a whole in one!

Last year, Mark wanted Sam to ride the bumper cars but she chickened out at the last minute. This year, she was totally game! Once she rode with Mark…

…and once with me so Daddy could kick our butts! Sam liked to steer. She only smashed us into a wall once or twice, which is pretty good I think.

Did I mention she still loves the spooky house? Yup, we only went through there I think three times! She made everyone go, even Grandmom.

Sam had just about given up hope of seeing her favorite boardwalk pal, Salt Water Taffy, but there he was! She had seen just about every other character and gotten her autographs. Whew. It’s a good thing she spied him! She loves that guy. It was a great boardwalk night, and a great beach day. How is vacation almost over!?

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pamelamyers | July 10, 2016

On our walk down the Promenade, I asked Mark if he would take a very special picture for me. There is a photo I love, that I have always loved. In 2011, almost exactly 5 years ago, I said this:

“One of my favorite things to do with Sam is just hold her hand and walk. I have waited for what seems like an eternity to do just that with my little girl and now that I can, I never want to let her go.”

Well, I still have that dress. It may be a little tighter, but it fits. And I definitely still have my girl. And I definitely still love holding her hand. And I definitely never want to let her go. I love you, Samantha. Thank you for all that you are and do. You are Mommy’s dream come true.

And thank you to my wonderful husband. For the original picture, and for your amazing talent that made taking the new one possible. Thank you for capturing our lives. The big stuff, the small stuff. All of it. You think you won’t forget, but you do. Your beautiful photos help us remember.

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pamelamyers | July 10, 2016

The morning started out a little dreary from the rain the night before, so we all relaxed for a while. Sam and Maddox started an insane game of Jenga. I NEVER saw a Jenga tower get so high. They were so good! It actually got much higher than this, but after a while, we were all afraid to go anywhere near them or the game!

We did make it to the beach for what turned out to be a beautiful day. Sam and Maddox wanted to be buried in the sand, so I was happy to oblige. Okay, see ya kids! We’re going back for lunch!

Sam, when did you become a teenager? She thought this was hysterical, of course. Mark’s idea, not mine! Yeah, just wait until she is actually a teenager, see how amusing he thinks it is!

My little beach bunny. 🙂

Sam and Maddox played well together, but they usually always do. Maddox got this game of horse shoes for his birthday from my mom and it was perfect for the beach.

For whatever reason, Sam really liked being buried. It can get dull, so Mark made it, shall we say, a bit more interesting!

That night, we all took a stroll down the Promenade so the kids could play games at the arcade. It is the perfect place for photos. We take some every year and I love them. It’s when we get the best pictures of my beautiful girl and my family that I love so much. I look back on these beach photos often, year after year, and am reminded again and again how lucky I am that I can spend this time with my family, and how lucky Sam is to have these memories.

We did eventually make it to the arcade and Sam played all her favorite games. Look at her feet off the ground!

Every year it’s the same games. She likes to stomp the spiders! I think it’s fun to see her do this year after year. It never gets dull for her.

We had to pose in our usual spots. This year, Sam wanted to be captain of the pirate ship. Grandmom and Mommy had to row!

Oh, turtle. How many years has Sam climbed on your back? Now that would be a montage, wouldn’t it? So many years of turtle pictures.

A great night, and a beautiful sky to walk home to. We love you beach!

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pamelamyers | July 10, 2016

In the morning, Mark talked Sam into going for a bike ride down the Promenade. It’s a long ride, but definitely doable. I guess it was too much for her little legs to handle. They got back, and this is what happened to Sam at the top of the stairs!

After all her exercise, Sam was ready to hit the beach. I love her new sunglasses!

Sam didn’t know exactly what she felt like doing, so we played tic-tac-toe in the sand. To mix it up a bit, I started making small sandcastles instead of x’s or o’s. Sam and I each had a shape. She loved that!

Sam also played hopscotch, although, she was quick to criticize the hopscotch I drew. I accidentally made one row with three squares across instead of two. Boy, did I hear about that a million times! “Mommy, why did you draw three boxes?” No sooner did we get over the trauma of my mistake, when Maddox showed up and started asking me, “Aunt Pam, why are there three boxes across?” Arrrgghhhh!!! These darn kids! Perfectionists!

Sam and her buddy, Ryder. She kept him amused the whole time. That kid will be a good babysitter some day.

Sam didn’t feel much like building a sand castle, strangely, but she and Mark did make a giant pyramid. She liked that, especially the part where she smashed it. It was a weird beach year. I guess it is a good thing, but there were so few shells on the beach, there was literally almost nothing to collect. A clean beach is nice, but it was almost….too clean? No seashells? It was odd, and it took away one of Sam’s favorite activities.

That night, we went for ice cream again. Krista got a salted caramel in a cone, and got a soft serve in a cup for Ryder. Well…Ryder didn’t exactly want his cup. We all cracked up when Ryder wound up eating every single bit of Krista’s ice cream cone. I think she got two licks. Sam was happy – she got to eat Ryder’s ice cream. Krista got nothing. Ah, the fate of a mom!

We were all really excited about seeing the fireworks, but the weather forecast was not too promising. Rain, rain, rain on the way. We could only hope for the best. So, after ice cream, before going in, we stopped to take a few pictures in the back yard. There was a nice bench and we did get a few nice pictures.

And then there’s these crazy pictures. We noticed from our deck that the people next door must have an unusual sense of humor. They had some…interesting things in their backyard. So…we snuck over the fence. Well, Mark and Sam did. I stayed on the other side. I already had my one breaking and entering shore event a few years ago. What? I never mentioned that on this blog? How we got locked out on our deck on the third floor and I had to leap over the fence that divided the property from the one next door, go through the sliding door, race through the neighbor’s house, down two flights of stairs, out the door and into our own house (which was thankfully unlocked) and hope that no one in the neighbor’s house saw me? Oh…I neglected to mention that? Probably. Um…no. That never happened…

Anyway, you KNOW Sam loved this! He was just sitting at the patio table.

And, she loved this! Who doesn’t love a skeleton dog?

It turned out that it did rain like crazy that night and it appeared fireworks would be cancelled, then at the last minute, they set them off anyway. Seems stupid being that there was a raindate for the next night, but whatever. It was still raining, but not pouring. We all slogged our way down to the Promendade and watched fireworks in the rain. Not exactly the fun filled evening of sitting on the beach watching, but still. It is better than nothing. Sam did feel a bit sad because it wasn’t the same. But I think she enjoyed the craziness of hanging out in the rain. There’s always next year!

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pamelamyers | July 10, 2016

Even though we planned our vacation for pretty early this year, it seemed like it would never arrive! We were all more than ready to hit the beach and be done with work for a while. Samantha was so excited. She knew that right after camp was over, we’d be leaving. It was almost hard for her to grasp that it was happening all at once, but at least with her being at camp, the week before we left went quickly for her. We left early in the morning on Saturday, as usual, but wow, the traffic! I suppose it was because it was 4th of July weekend, but it was really bad. By the time we got there, we were all exhausted. It took almost twice as long as usual. Sam was pretty good though, so that helped.

We all were so happy to see the beach and the ocean again!

The water seemed oddly (and nicely) blue this year. It was a bit cold though!

We had to go for ice cream the very first night, of course!

The next day the water was still a bit too chilly for our liking, but we found lots of other things to do. Mark and Sam played paddle ball and we enjoyed the warm, but not too hot, air.

We had told Krista, Adam and the kids to come down early this year so as to not miss the beach fireworks, so Sam had someone to play with right away. All the kids had fun. Ryder likes playing in the sand and with his wading pool, and Maddox, Mark and Adam threw a football around.

We hit the boardwalk that weekend because you just never know what the weather will be like. We like to go more than once to make sure we do everything we love (shopping, the food, the rides, the games!) and it is hard to do it all at once. Sam is good at walking around now without complaining, but she is still little, and she does get tired. We tend to not get her to bed much before 10:00 p.m., and that is insanely late for her. But it’s vacation! She was such a little goofball this trip – super excited to see everything there was to see.

She always loves the moving boy and girl in Shriver’s window. She calls them Jack and Jill. (She also calls her dollhouse babies Jack and Jill – I think it’s her go to names for anyone she considers twins).

Lock her up! Crazy girl…

The minute we got near the spooky golf place she had to run and visit skeleton. I have no idea why she is so obsessed with that place or that guy. But she definitely remembers, from year to year. We promised that this year we’d actually go inside and go miniature golfing.

More goofball faces! It is good to see her so happy. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Three generations. 🙂

Sam took this picture of us. She is pretty good, I think!

We didn’t have time for a million rides, but we did do a few, including the carousel.

Right near the carousel, Mark spied a penny machine, one of those ones that smushes a penny and imprints a design on it. Sam loves them. She  has a few that we got other places. When we visited the zoo recently, she actually found a book specifically made to hold them in the gift shop. She was so happy to have another penny for her collection. Good spotting, Daddy!

Sam and I rode the crazy balloon ride again. She loves to spin me like mad. It was funny, this year, even Sam thought the spinning was a bit much. She enjoyed it like crazy, but she told me again and again that she thought that they changed the ride somehow because it seemed crazier than usual. She laughed and giggled the whole time though, but at least she didn’t spin us so hard!

Last stop for the night was the Ferris Wheel. We all love it and it’s a “must do” on our trip every summer. Sam cuddled with Grandmom for a nice picture…

Mark and I shared a snuggle…

and Sam cuddled with her favorite guy.

We had the Go Pro up there and Sam couldn’t resist making some crazy videos. She is quite the narrator…

It was a great weekend, and a great start to our vacation!

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