The Strawberry Patch: Our Trip to Gigi's House!

In late July, Susannah and I drove to Somers Point, New Jersey, to spend a week visiting my Grammy--Susannah's Great Grammy (whom Susannah calls "Gigi")--as well as my Aunt Holly, Aunt Joni, Uncle Sam, and cousins Chanel and Lisette. Uncle Seth (my brother) and Grammy (my mom) were there, too, so we had almost the whole family together for several days of hanging out on the nearby Longport Beach, enjoying family suppers, and sharing life!

On our first morning at Gigi's house, Susannah (who was an EARLY riser that day!) helped Gigi put out the "Amer-can flag." Great Grampy, a WWII veteran and proud American, did this daily before his death last Christmas Eve.

First day on the beach (since she was 7 weeks old, anyway)! Hat, sunglasses, bathing suit, and...WATERMELON FOR LUNCH!!!! What more could a toddler want?!

Putting sand into a bucket full of ocean water just to see what will happen!

Uncle Seth, Grammy, and Aunt Holly soak up the rays...and some much-needed relaxation! I was almost jealous, but then was reminded what a privilege it is to be in this season of motherhood with a toddler who is full of wonder about EVERYTHING in her world!

Grammy brought an Ariel (Little Mermaid) dolly which immediately became Susannah favorite beach toy! She took "red haired dolly" everywhere that week!

Before our trip, I purchased a small swallowtail kite at Pufferbellies Toy Store so that Susannah could fly it at the beach. She was mildly interested in it...but Grammy and Uncle Seth had a blast trying to perfect their kite flying technique!

Uncle Seth was kind enough to play with his little niece and fetch countless buckets of water from the ocean that she would not go near! She would walk up to the point where the wet sand began and whenever a wave would roll in would declare, "Beach is coming! Beach is COMING!" There was no convincing her that the whole place is called the "beach" and the water itself is called the "ocean." So I gave up trying! :)

Sitting in her shady spot snacking on sliced peaches and potato chips! The combination of sun, fun, and greasy chips (she ate handfuls rather than just the two or three she gets on occasion at home!) did not bode well for her little tummy: she threw up FIVE TIMES when we got home that afternoon! Poor baby hasn't touched a peach since...

Graduation Party

The family got together to celebrate cousin Chanel's graduation from Rutgers--Douglass and cousin Lisette's graduation from Rizzieri School of Cosmetology one night during our visit to NJ. The party was held at the home of Aunt Aunt Joni's friend Doug, who has a beautiful backyard and home. Susannah loved exploring the fish pond, the bamboo "forest," and the decorative candles that were placed beautifully around the deck.

Admiring the pond

Cousin Chanel and Susie Joy watching the water trickle in the pond

Grammy helps Susannah eat crackers and cheese on the deck steps

Great Uncle Ned (Gigi's brother) was down from PA for a weekend visit, and was able to make it to the party. Here he and his sister (Gigi) sit and chat on what was a lovely evening.

Susie Joy found a little corner of the deck to claim as her very own!

Drank her water and ate her crackers and cheese in that little corner and was quite content!

Uncle Seth brought his Cornhole boards with him to NJ. He constructed and painted these by hand in a UF Gators theme a few years back, and we had endlessly fun tournaments on the beach and in Doug's backyard during the graduation party. Susannah happily invented her own rules to the game: crawl up the sloped face of the board and unstrategically, one-by-one, drop the cornhole bags into the hole...THEN CHEER WILDLY AT ONE'S ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Mommy and Susie Joy

Finishing dinner on the screened-in deck...all except for Uncle Seth, who could eat his weight in Charlie's buffalo wings, and does at any given opportunity!

(Left to right: Gigi, Aunt Holly, Uncle Seth, Uncle Ned, and Grammy)

Cousin Lisette shows Susannah her fancy phone. Our little Strawberry has quite a penchant for all things technified...

Three Generations: Susannah, my mom, my Grammy

Day 2 at the Longport Beach

Susannah still showed no interest whatsoever about even touching the ocean, so she and Chanel played with buckets of water and sand far, far away from that noisy, constantly-moving, endless abyss of salt water.

Lisette teaches Susie Joy how to make a sandcastle!

Chanel exhibits endless patience filling, patting, and dumping the castle mold!

Walking along the shoreline, collecting seashells and watching oh-so-carefully to make sure the water gets nowhere near her vulnerable toes!

Susannah participates in a Cornhole Board competition while Lisette cheers her on!

Susannah and Mama watch the waves roll in and out

Back at Gigi's House...

Grammy hangs on the deck awaiting dinner. Notice who is right next to her on the arm of the chair!!!!!

Aunt Holly and Gigi relax on the back deck during a warm August evening

Cousin Derek and his girlfriend Jess were able to join us for dinner one evening, which was wonderful! They stayed for a while after and we all laughed and talked the night away.

Loading up her schoolbus on Gigi's deck

Gigi loves porcelain dolls, and this particular one, Julia, is her favorite. Susannah really liked going into Gigi's bedroom to look at that special dolly when a grown-up went with her.

Two mornings we had the special treat of eating at The Breakfast Shop on the Somers Point Bay beach.

After breakfast the morning of Aunt Holly's departure we stopped by the memorial bench that my mom and her siblings had engraved and placed along my Grampy's favorite daily route on the Somers Point Bike Path. Such a beautiful tribute to a man who rode his bike five miles every morning into his 90th year of life before cancer took him from us.

Day Three at the Longport Beach...and still no interest in the ocean!

So, much time was spent dipping Ariel's hair into a bucket of salt water fetched by a kind adult!

One of my favorite pictures of our sand and seagull-loving girl...

Rocking in the glider on Gigi's deck, wearing one of my favorite summer outfits!

After Susannah went to bed that night, Chanel, Lisette, Seth, and I headed for the Boardwalk to walk, talk, look in the stores, and of course...RIDE THE TILT-A-WHIRL, a cousinly tradition!

Chanel and I had to be quite dramatic about the whole affair, of course! The first round, Seth rode with Chanel and me and we ALL screamed like little girls. Then Seth the Lightweight chickened out while Chanel and I rode a second time (for free!!!!) and continued screaming like little girls. That second ride about pushed us over the edge and made both of us want to vomit...so we decided to call it a night :).

One Last Beach Day

Susannah discovered the fun of rolling in sand, thus coating herself from HEAD TO TOE in it while sunscreened! I'll let you guess what kind of a laborious process I endured to get the sand out of her hair, eyebrows, lashes, and varying crevices that evening in the bathtub! Come to think of it, I think I dug some out from under her fingernails just the other night...

She started the body-coating process by tunneling her hands....

...then continued by stretching onto her tummy.

Next, it was time to squeeze it and watch it run out from between her fingers.

It was time for the sunhat to go.

(Obviously it was only functioning to stand between her hair and an hour's worth of shampooing that would be needed once the sand penetrated every last strand!)