Fruit Salad

Day trips require us to pack everything but the kitchen sink, or so it seems.  Maybe we tend to be over prepared, but so far life has not taught us that is bad.  I think we actually managed to make this trip without forgetting anything.  Or if we did forget something, I can't remember what it was that we forgot.  So, either way, it's all good.

Edit:  I wrote the above portion of this post a few days ago.  Since then, I remembered how many things we forgot.  We had to sit in the driveway for like 10 minutes because people kept hopping out of the van and dashing into the house with the phrase "I forgot . . ." on their lips.  And then, when we had finally managed to drive away, we made it about 7 blocks and had to turn around to get the registration sticker that needed to be on our license plate.

So much for not forgetting anything.

We made this particular trip because we promised the kids a trip to the beach before the summer was over.  And since summer doesn't end until Christmas around here, we made it.  Even if the kids say we were late on our promise.  I say all the evidence is in the thermometer.  At home, it was 99 degrees the day we went to the beach.  That's totally summer in my book.  Just because the beach itself was cloudy and cool . . . whatever.  Not my fault.

Also, we met up with some cousins.  All things considered, it was a good day.  Just had to overlook B's hour long crying stints as we drove.  And the sand in our food.  And the price of gas.

But, like I said, it was a good day.  It's not very hard to get kids to enjoy a day at the coast.

B's first sight of the surf.

R doing her best to be a model cousin.

An exhausted baby who refused to sleep pretty much the entire day.

 During previous beach trips, R has spent a majority of her time being terrified of the waves.  On this trip, not so much.

Like always, J had a fabulous time playing with what nature has given us.

Doesn't everybody bring a shovel to the beach?

Love this shot.  Everything about it.

This one, too.

Cousins, doing a little sand construction.

Cousin E, trying to be the model cousin.

Some of the cousins.  And a lot of their stuff.

The whole group, minus the photographer.  The other baby cousin is hiding under the towel.  SHE actually slept that day.  Too bad B isn't old enough to take notes.

Our beach neighbors thought our shovel was pretty cool.  So they borrowed it and recruited some extra willing diggers.

But what happened in the van as we were nearing home, that is what I want to record here.  It's a great example of what I love about our family dynamics.

When we finish a trip, or a party, or some other event, we like to ask the kids about their favorite part.  I think it helps us all focus on what was good about the day, rather than letting the frustrations and the grumpy feelings stew around inside of us.

Sand dollar collection was a main focus of this particular beach visit.  S happened to find a perfect one, which led the other kids to spend a lot of time trying to find one equally as perfect.  Nobody did.  Which created some grumpiness.

But J had one that he was happy enough with and was bringing home with him.  Then he told us how he had more sand dollars, but he HAD to frisbee some of them into the water.  Who could resist that temptation?  I'm sort of surprised that he had even one left.

And then J decided to rename baby B.  He renamed her cherry.  Cherry is a cuter name than B, he said.  Which kicked off our whole fruit salad episode.  Which went something like this.  I am recreating it from very sloppy and sketchy notes (which I was writing in the dark as we drove.)  So it might not have happened exactly like this.  But close enough.  Especially for someone like me with such a flawless memory.

J:  Mommy, I taught cherry how to spit!

Me:  Lovely.

R:  Cars are chasing us! 

J:  No, their lights are blueberries.  Call me apple.  Cherry is really sleepy.

R:  What's my name?

J:  Banana.

Me:  Does everybody have a fruit name?

J:  Yes.  You're raspberry.  Daddy is strawberry.  K is grape. 

S:  I'm a lemon.

Shaggy & I:  Ha.  Ha.  S is a lemon. 

J:  Cherry, crazy cherry.  You're only eating yourself (she was sucking on her hand).  Nom!  Nom!  Nom!  Hey, pretend there are jet engines on top of the van.

R:  Turn the jet engines ON, Daddy!

Shaggy:  Ok.  Vroooom!  Hey apple, what is cherry doing?

J:  Nothing.

B:  Waaaaaaa!  Waaaaa!  Waaaaaaaa!

J:  No, cherry, don't scream.

R:  The blueberries are still chasing us!  They're bad guys!

J:  This is bad, cherry.  There's a million blueberries following us.  Hey, Strawberry, turn the music down.  She's gonna cry her head off.

Shaggy:  No, I can't.  This is Metallica.  It's important for her psyche.

By this time we were nearly home and had to spend some time deligating in order to make the task of unpacking the van and the kids a little easier.  But the fruity names did NOT help that endeavor.

Me:  Ok, grape and lemon, you know what your jobs are.

Shaggy:  Take grape and get her ready for bed.

K:  What?  When am I supposed to take a shower?

Shaggy:  After grape gets in bed.

K:  I am grape.

Shaggy:  OK, after petunia gets a bath and into bed.

K:  Who's petunia?

Me:  Ha.  Ha.  Hee.  Hee.

J:  Why are you laughing?

Me:  Because Daddy can't keep all you fruits straight.  We have fruit salad.

Shaggy & I started singing (and then everyone joined in):  Fruit salad!  Yummy, yummy!

Though we are decidedly not Barney fans, this fruit salad song continues to creep into our lives at the oddest moments.  This being one of them.  I don't think I would have ever thought I'd be pulling into my driveway after a beach trip with a van full of fruit salad.

But, whatever.  Fruit salad!  Yummy, yummy!