Interesting Moments With The Kids At The Beach

1) Mar developed a mean case of red ass (that’s a clinical term, folks -- ask your doctor) a couple of nights ago. It was so mean that she cried when she peed. Elaine once asked, “I don’t know how you guys live with those things.” Well, when I get red ass, it hurts “there” but I can still pee pain free. Too many access points for you ladies, if you ask me. She’s better now (diaper cream, diaper cream, diaper cream) and is again enjoying life.

2) Headed to the Charleston Children’s Museum yesterday. Of course, they can’t call it that -- they must call it the “Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry.” How fancy. Tell you what, the place doesn’t have the square footage of ours in W-S but what they do have is super nice. The exhibits were all high end and interactive. The water play room was good, the shrimp boat room was better but Xav most enjoyed the castle room -- what an incredible setup. I spent the whole time in there wondering what it would take to make something similar in our home. I believe it’s called money.

3) Drove to The Battery later in the day and walked around. Xav was mesmerized by the cannons and asked a lot of really good (and tough) questions. Mar was passed out in my arms, a 21 pound sweathog slumbering away in 90+ degree heat. We then headed over to Waterfront Park and offered Xav the option of soaking himself in the fountain. He declined and we just gazed out at the harbor instead. Man, Charleston is one beautiful city.

4) Ate a delicious dinner at Cindy’s, an organic grocer/fishmonger/market/restaurant a couple of miles short of Kiawah. I swear my helping of fish was close to a pound. Xav had never before consumed fresh fried shrimp (one of the workers said it was pulled off of a boat that morning) and I was worried. You see, he’s already hit me with the “Is it going to be as good as McDonald’s?” baloney when I told him I’d make him a burger at home. No shit. His prior fried shrimp experience was Mrs. Paul’s or that Gordon fisherman dude’s stuff and I know he likes that crap. But he loved the fresh shrimp and had a ball playing with the toys and checking out the scene.

5) After a day in Charleston and a big fish dinner, what better way to top it off than to head to the beach for the night. Xav and I spent a couple of hours building a sweet sandcastle/island development thingamajobby and then laughed histerically as the tide slowly came in and knocked it all down. Is there anything better?

Once home, Doc and I read to the kids and they quickly passed out. Feeling good and frisky, we settled in for a comfortable night on the couch and watched an uplifting little flick before retiring to our separate quarters (she sleeps with Mar in one room, Xav and I have our single beds in another). How romantic. 

That's life at the beach with kids for you.

Edited to add that this blog has been brought to you by, well, me, stationed on a screened porch on a lagoon with beautiful birds, gentle breezes and not even the slightest sound of a lawnmower or leaf blower.  Oh, and hell yes I'm enjoying a cold beer at 1:50pm. 

I Hate Water Bugs

You know, these roach-looking creatures that reside in beach communities?  Hate them.  I’m not a bug man.  Xav is braver than I when it comes to bugs (as is my wife).  I’m not a total puss, however -- I’ll deal with them when we cross paths, but always with a shudder.

So we’ve had three bugs in our pad.  Whoopity-doo.  Things really couldn’t be a whole lot better right now.  Just got back from three hours at the beach.  Spent a couple hours there last night as well.  Xav is all about the surf and sand and it’s hard to get him out of the water.  Mar actually is coping really well -- only 19 months old, she loves digging around and actually felt comfortable enough to go down for a 30 minute nap under the umbrella.  Three hours without crying or incident?  I’ll take it.

We haven’t even been here for 24 hours and yet I find myself calculating how much longer we have here -- why is it that I am always counting down how few days we have remaining?  I could live here . . . I just wouldn’t want to work!  I need to take it minute by minute.

Cooking for ourselves, drinking a sweet tasting Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat (purchased in Charleston, SC -- who woulda thunk it?  Squirrel would be proud!), relaxing on the screened deck, listening to the cicadas.  Life is good.

At The Beach

Connection quality poor.

BAC high.

Xav wants me to play with him and his Legos.  I want to play with his mommy.

Talk to you all later.

Feeling "Beachy Keen"

Tomorrow we all head down to South Carolina and Kiawah Island for a week at the beach. This is trip one of two -- we'll head down to the NC shore in two weeks. This is a work trip for Doc, thus her "people" will cover our gas expenses and some of our lodging. Mornings conferencing, afternoons with the family -- she'll still be working and thus so will I, but it will be nice to get out of town. Sadly, a "system of concern" is developing off the FL/GA coast that will likely rain us out for a few days but shouldn't jeopardize the trip.

Greg said the tool in all of us dads comes out when we wield the beach umbrella and rolling cooler on the beach. I agree. Check out this list of things we'll be packing today. It is borderline absurd:

Clothes/Bathing suits
Beach bag -- towels, lotions, goggles, sunglasses, hats, umbrella, soft cooler
Beach toys
Toys for the house
DVDs
Books
Juice cups
Kids bowls
Potty seat
Running stuff
Laptop/Zune
Kitchen stuff (spices, oil, grill pan, non-stick pan, iron skillet, tongs -- I need MY cookware!)
Dish detergent, sponges
Laundry detergent
Paper towels, napkins
Food -- apple juice, juice boxes, pasta, tomato sauce, cream sauce, cereal, canned foods for kids (chef boyardee crap they devour), fruit cups, fruit chews, chips, cookies, sodas/water, coffee/sugar/filters, mac n' cheese, vegetables from garden (SC produce laws be damned -- don't fear, I'll wash 'em all), ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, plasticware, paper plates, foils and wraps
Maps and directions

Made it to the end? Good for you. No joke, this list rests on my counter like a Patton plan of attack. I'll be implementing it throughout the day. The work up front makes for such an enjoyable vacation. We'll eat out maybe twice and have to head out to the market only once (beef/chicken/dairy). Most importantly, we'll save mucho dinero. I can't wait to get there.

Earning His Marbles

Today, Xav earned his final marble.

When we went camping two months ago, one of my friends told me about the "marble jar" he keeps on his kitchen counter.  Every time his son Sam did something above and beyond -- or even just outright randomly good -- Sam earned a marble.  There was only one way Sam could ever lose his marbles -- if he hit someone.  And when he hit someone, Sam didn't lose just one marble . . . he lost them all.

Hitting has never been a major issue with Xav but it is a concern, especially as he prepares to head to kindergarten.  I'm not a "hit back if you get hit first" kind of dad but I understand that this is a natural instinct.  Regardless, after returning from the camping trip we started our own marble jar with Xav.  I'd guess there were ~20-25 marbles he had to transfer from one jar to another with every exceptional act he performed. 

Only once was the marble jar emptied and this was relatively early on.  He lost six or so and was obviously quite distraught, but he refocused and has been terrific ever since.  Tonight, after earning his final marble, we headed over to Toys-R-Us, the toy store megamart that smells sort of odd but stocks Legos like no other (if Whistlestop sold it, we'd get it there, but what can you do).

His choice:

From blocks to Thomas the Train to Lego City -- that's where Xav's head is at right now.  He's got a helicopter and a garbage truck, a tractor trailor and a mail plane.  He needed a building and he got one.  Watching a four year old contemplate what to buy at a toy store is an awesome sight.  It made for a terrific evening.

We'll start the jar over again but add on no-no's other than hitting to the chapters of marble bankruptcy we'll file on his behalf should he falter.

4:20pm at Miller Park

Clint: You said, "Someone's tokin' some reefer."
Mike: No, I meant somewhere I smell some pot, you know? It was just an observation.
Clint: Oh, an observation, huh? Well who the hell are you, man? Isaac fucking Newton?

Xav, Mar and I headed over to Miller Park (park 28) this afternoon and had a good time. There was great shade and a terrific breeze and we hung out for the better part of two hours. The breeze got sweeter later in the day, however. I was talking with another dad (yes, at Miller for about 15 minutes two dads and four kids ran the show!) when he said that he could smell some pot. I had picked up the scent earlier but after his comment checked my watch and discovered that it was a little after 4:30pm. Ten minutes after I first picked up the scent of the bud? Totally possible. Good to see traditions live on.

Miller Park is a big place with lots of shelters and it was and is well known around town that it's a great place to get high. Now I know a late afternoon stop at the playground may have some fringe benefits for us parents as well if the wind is blowing in the right direction. I keed, I keed . . . kind of. Yeah, I know, I'm such a winner of a parent.

I learned today that Miller Park is also a place where teenagers like to ride their pocket-rocket dirt bikes (not nearly this nice, but to give you an idea):

At least the kid asked if I would mind if he slung some sand around the swing set for a little bit (of course, I said I would mind as Mar was climbing all over it at the time but still found it in my heart to point him over to the softball field across the bridge -- I was surprised the police never showed up).

For townies, the same dad told me that the playground at Hathaway Park (park 22 on the map) has been renovated. I've never taken the kids there but know the area pretty well and will likely check things out tomorrow. Contact highs are not likely in that neck of the woods, but you never know.

Moe's Treats Me Wrong

Xav, Mar and I had a terrible experience at the Thruway Moe's this morning. We walked to the door at 11am and found it was still locked (they open at 11). We were not the first customers to pull on the door after the scheduled opening time but this didn't frustrate us at all -- I've worked in restaurants and know that stuff can happen. We sat outside and a couple of minutes later an employee unlocked the door. I picked up Mar and Xav led us in.

The first thing we saw and heard was an employee holding his hands up in the air behind the counter yelling, "We're not open yet! We're not open yet!" He was yelling it, that there is not doubt. It so caught me off guard that I looked at my watch and said, "It's 11:04. Isn't that after 11am?" He repeated, "We're not open yet!" and then told me to calm down.

It would be a he-said/he-said analysis were it an issue in court, but I assure you that I did not raise my voice at all. I did note the time sarcastically and he clearly didn't appreciate it. Thus, the "calm down" comment, I imagine, one that was as offensive as being yelled at because we, heaven forbid, walked through an unlocked door at a restaurant after the time of its scheduled opening.

Xav later asked me why he just didn't say it nicely? He's 4 and he picked up on how rude the guy was. We most definitely would have waited if he had merely said he'd be with us in a moment. Instead, we walked out and headed a 1/2 mile over to Q'doba on Miller and enjoyed a nice lunch. I prefer Q'doba's food anyway but the fun colors and typically boisterous hellos are something I thought Xav would enjoy (oh, and I had a coupon for a free kid's meal).

Not open yet? Don't unlock your door. Another employee opens it when he/she shouldn't have and a customer walks in? Don't yell at the customer. At least I was able to give Xav a lesson in the power of the consumer -- the customer doesn't have to spend his money anywhere because there are plenty of other options out there. That said, I would have liked to have enjoyed lunch at Moe's today, but only if I was welcome. We definitely did not feel welcome.

Honestly, I wanted to eat at Burke Street, where you may get the cold shoulder but that's to be expected at a pizzeria. I don't go there for the conversation and it is closer to what was our destination, The Children's Museum. Xav's passion for quesadillas won out (sometimes, you just gotta give 'em what they want). Q'doba + a couple of hours at the museum = antidote to any crappy experience.