Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | July 23, 2015

Did I mention the days have been amazing? Well, they have. The weather was unbelievable. This beach day was no different. We are always so lucky on our beach vacations. Mother Nature is good to us! Sam and Maddox had their first real beach day of the year and they had a blast, digging, playing, looking for sea shells and having a general good time. They always play really well together.

This year was very different for Sam, and thus, more relaxing for us! She wasn’t afraid to run off to the ocean with her bucket of water, or just to splash around with Maddox. Last year, she would have insisted we go off with her each and every time. It was so nice in the mornings, before the beach got crowded, to just sit in a chair, enjoying the view and watching Sam run around having fun.

Sam does love playing in the water! She pulled us all in as often as she could.

Sam likes when I lift her up as the waves come in. I fling her as high as I can and she giggles and screams. It’s a good workout for my biceps anyway!

A beautiful, beautiful day. This vacation has been so great. Mark and I promised before we left that we would try to really relax and have a good time, no stress, no arguments, and the effort has paid off. What a great time!

Last task of the day on the beach, burying Sam, and Daddy!

I am a lucky, lucky mom.

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pamelamyers | July 23, 2015

Today was the first morning that Krista, Adam, Maddox and Ryder were at the beach and sadly, it was the first terrible weather day. It was rainy and kind of cool so we left them to try to deal with the beach while we went to Stone Harbor for shopping at lunch. In the Five and Dime, Sam tried on a bunch of silly hats. This one was my favorite.

We stayed a few hours, then went back to the house. By then, the Burkes had abandoned the beach and come home. The kids were a bit wound up so it was time for a good roughhousing session to burn off that energy!

We had planned a pasta dinner so we could all sit down as a family and Ryder was all set. He won’t turn down food, that’s for sure! The food looked (and tasted) great, so who can blame him?

After dinner, we taught Sam and Maddox how to play the card game, Uno. They did pretty well. Sam and I shared the first hand until she got the hang of it, and we won!

Adam and I took the kids for ice cream while Mark and Krista went for a bike ride. Sam was pleased to be in charge of Ryder while we got settled! She loves being the boss of him, the poor kid!

Hopefully, there will be lots of years ahead at the beach, playing games, eating good food, and having fun. It’s even more important now for Sam to have all these wonderful family memories to look back on. She will remember these times, so we are trying really hard to fill it with joy, and laughter, and happiness.

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pamelamyers | July 22, 2015

Sam and I hadn’t built any real sand castles yet so that was our first order of business. We made a pretty nice one, if I do say so. Simple, but nice.

While Sam was digging in the sand, she found the best treasure — a sand dollar! She was so excited because she always wanted one. You never find those on the beach…I wonder how it got there…I must be her good luck charm, or something…

Sam loved making the moat for her boat yesterday, so Mark helped her dig an even better one. Sam waited. And waited. And waited. The ocean was taking its own sweet time, let me tell you. Slowest high tide I ever saw.

But she was as patient as I have ever seen her.

Eventually, she got a bit bored, and decided to make some stick and seaweed trees for her island.

The ocean finally made it! The boat floated for about a minute then the high tide that was so slow coming whooshed in and completely filled and collapsed her moat. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted!

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pamelamyers | July 21, 2015

We always try to get to the beach nice and early and this day was no exception. We were having such great weather that we wanted to soak it all up while we could. Mark has been really into staying fit these days and he did some push ups on the beach. Sam wanted to work out with him so she did some too.

She had been asking Mark for weeks about flying her kite on the beach. It is one of her favorite Daddy-Daughter beach activities. It seemed like a good kite flying day, so up it went!

It was a bit of a tough time getting it up, but once it was flying, it really flew!

Sam is usually pretty good at holding on, but twice she let go. Boy, did Mark have to book down the beach! Well, he did want some exercise…

After a while, it was time to take it down. Sam found it hysterical to chase the kite’s shadow as it moved around. She looked so cute running from place to place jumping on the shadow and chasing it as it moved away.

Eventually, the kite came down and it was time for more sandy, beach fun.

Sam wanted to dig a hole her boat could float it. She never quite gets why if she digs a hole and dumps water in it, why it does not stay. Mark took her down closer to the ocean so she could make her moat. They dug and dug and…

…eventually, the ocean cooperated and filled the hole! Yay!

On to another day The Burkes were arriving the next night so we had to get some sleep to be ready for the company!

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pamelamyers | July 20, 2015

Our first full day at the beach! We brought our bikes this year, which was a first, and couldn’t wait to hit the Promenade. It’s the perfect place for Sam to ride. Straight, flat, good scenery. Off we went!

We stopped early for a drink of water and a photo op then off we went! Bringing our bikes was a great idea this year. We see so many people biking at the beach and it always looks like fun. It certainly was! Sam liked riding next to the beach, although, in some spots, the dunes are so high you can’t see the ocean. We went all the way to the end of the Promenade. Sam did great! We didn’t go biking as much as we would have liked, but Mark and I even managed to get out once to ride on our own. We rode all the way over the bridge into Avalon!

Whew! She made it to the end, now it’s time to head back!

As soon as we got back, it was bathing suits on and head to the beach! That’s what we were there for, after all. The ocean was super warm, around 75 degrees, and calm as could be. Look at that view!

The jetty. Always the jetty. It can be interesting, but Sam really loves it. We always have to go explore.

We spent a good bit of time getting wet since the water was so inviting. I’m so glad that Sam isn’t afraid anymore. She is always saying she wants to go farther out. I think up to her waist is quite far enough, thank you very much.

Look at that smile! She’s having a blast.

Digging a hole with her daddy, another necessary beach task.

We made sure to hit the Ocean City boardwalk the first day since you never really know what the weather will be like. Sam loves the boardwalk and couldn’t wait to go. She remembered everything! It was really shocking to me. I guess I keep forgetting how she is getting old enough to hold on to her memories. She loves this crazy singing, animated skeleton at one of the miniature golf places.

We strolled the boards just soaking up the sights before going to the Wonderland Pier for some rides. Crazy enough, who did we see also strolling along? Mrs. Dunbar, Sam’s preschool teacher from this past year! I think Sam was more than a little shocked to see her teacher so out of place. You know how it is, teachers, like parents, are not supposed to have a life outside of their assigned roles.

Sam’s first priority was going into the spooky house with Grandmom. She assured Grandmom that she didn’t need to be scared. Our brave girl.

Sam pretty much ruled the night. She decided what we did and when we did it. Next order of business, the balloon ride. She loves spinning me around like crazy.

We didn’t have a ton of time for a million rides that night but Sam wanted to ride the train. We thought it would be a nice end to the night. She wanted to sit up front with Grandmom so she could point out all the sights.

That was fine with Mark and I. We got to relax and enjoy a few minutes of quiet time in the seat behind!

We tried to leave, but we had to make one final stop. The kite store. You never know when you might find a pirate there. They tend to hang out at the kite shop for some reason. Sam is always looking…last year, she got real pirate treasure! This year, she found a bubble man, and a pirate! What a night!

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