Every morning, we rode our bikes to the beach and spent a few hours. Some mornings, there wasn’t anyone else on the beach except for us. I know the kids really enjoyed having the water and sand to themselves. Typically, we would head back for lunch and some adventure, such as the movies or mini-golf, or shopping. Then an early dinner and head back to the beach. This kept us out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day.

One of my fondest memories of our trip was early in the week. We packed some sandwiches and snacks and headed to the beach around 6pm. It was low-tide and there seemed like miles and miles of sand. The sun was starting to set and the light had that wonderful yellow glow to it. Of course, I brought my camera with me and I couldn’t resist getting some snaps in of the kids playing in the water. Here is one of my favorites from that night.

After finishing breakfast, we went into the “Evaporation Room” where they were boiling the sap into Maple Syrup. They even had samples from a fresh batch of syrup. The kids started to get all excited and I had to lift them up to look inside the huge vats of syrup with sweet-smelling steam billowing around us. I realized that we were about to experience the after effects of a maple sugar rush so I got them back outside to the small petting zoo.

After spending some time with the animals we wandered over to a demonstration on how to make maple candy. The small room smelled lovely and started to get really packed with people. Of course, my kids were front and center listening to the nice lady explain how to make the candy. At one point I had to shush my son who is a person who cannot stop asking questions. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing because he kept interrupting her with little tidbits of his own observations. At one point he asked if they made maple candies in the shape of smiley faces.

Finally, I ushered Son & Daughter outside and we went to check out some of the pails where they were collecting sap. I was trying to get some last-minute photos but the kids were not having it. Here I am trying to get some nice images to remember our little trip, but all I hear is “I’m cold” or “I’m bored”. Where’s the love? So I did what any self-respecting parent does when her children aren’t cooperating. I bribed them with cider donuts. And it worked!

So this past weekend, I realized that my daughter only had one pair of shoes that fit her. The other ones were either completely ruined or were just too small. Now Mama was on a mission. Let’s get this girl some shoes! Hubby and I herded the two kids in the car and made our way to a nearby locally-owned shoe store. They have a good selection of shoes that are well-made, but still reasonably priced. After all, kids are really tough on shoes.

Ok. So we walk in and immediately, hubby finds a chair and starts playing a game on his droid. Son is running around in circles and Daughter is already pouting.

Me: How about these?

Daughter: Uh, uh.

Me: How about these?

Daughter: *Grunt*

I’m trying really hard to be patient so I say, “Do you see anything you like?”

Daughter walks over to a pair of sneakers that look remarkably like the one pair of shoes she actually has that fit her and looks up at me hopefully. I say, “You already have a pair of sneakers. How about we find some shoes that will look nice with a dress?”

At this point I ask the clerk to bring out all the “dressy shoes” that are in her size. Thinking I’m being an awesome mom, I say to Daughter, “You can choose whichever ones you like.” Big mistake.

Daughter: They’re all stupid.

Now I’m just irritated. Here I am telling her she can basically choose any shoe in the store, except for the pair of sneakers that are practically a duplicate of the ones she already has. So I shift my focus to Son.

Me: Son, do you like any shoes in here?

Son: Yeah, I like these shiny silver sneakers.

Me: Ok, let’s try them on.

I give hubby the look that says, “You talk to her”, then I walk to the other side of the store that has grown-up shoes and find myself a sweet little pair of wine colored Dansko clogs that make me at least two inches taller. Yay!

Now Daughter is sobbing because her brother gets to get a new pair of shoes and she doesn’t. I try to make a last ditch effort to find her something, but now she just wants to get something for the sake of getting it and I’m not giving in. Instead, I say, “Let’s try another store.”

With lot’s of sobbing in the back seat, we headed over to Sears and after a little distraction and gentle consoling, we managed to find a cute little pair of silver ballet shoes. Phew! Shopping for shoes with a strong-willed 8 year old girl can really take a toll. So how’d we celebrate? With ice-cream, of course! More for us than her, but don’t tell her that.

When we got there, it was overcast but after about 45 minutes, the rain started. It didn’t just rain, it poured! Good thing Joe & Barb had a tent. Thanks guys! The hardcore fireworks enthusiasts stuck around in hopes that the fireworks display would still occur. It didn’t disappoint. Here are some of the images I captured. I love how some of these look like sea anemones instead of lights in the sky.

He’s really into Indiana Jones right now. We’re having an adventure party next week for him with his friends and he is so excited to BE Indiana Jones. He is such a happy person and so full of expressions, as you can see.

Love you, buddy!