First Beach Trip of 2012!

Temperatures reached near 80 this week (which you couldn't believe right now at the chilly-ish 42 degrees) so of course we had to take our first trip of the year to Crane Beach!  The beach was beautiful as usual, the temperature hot and the water...beyond icy!  I've never had such frozen feet in my life but I pushed through and did my mom duty to find snails for Mr. No.  Actually H was the only wimp.  Yes, even ocean fearing Mr. No went right into the water...up to his thighs even!  So proud of him!

H forgot to pack Mr. No's beach toys so we had to stop on the way for some.  Unfortunately (for me), it came with a water gun.  Since H spent most of his time on the beach like this:

I was the one who was attacked his the water gun. Repeatedly.  I probably should leave out the part where I also filled it up for him repeatedly.  Can't really complain then, can I?

The he spotted a mom and son building a sand village? castle? something and wanted to collect shells to make his own creations.  Luckily it is a wonderful beach for collecting shells even when it's busy.

collecting shells. you can see the mom, son and creation behind him

one of Mr. No's shell castles

finishing up his shell village (all the mounds near him are his buildings)

Then he decided that he wanted snails, so we had to go back to H so they could stay together while I braved the icy water. 

trying to remember which way to go.

Of course he had to chase a few poor unsuspecting seagulls on his way down to the water.

Then he surprised both me and H by going into the water. Willingly.

H was coerced into it but then ran out after only a few seconds.  Mr. No tried to chase him back in several times but H wasn't having any of it.

So Mr. No tried to show him how it's done.

Mr. No walking on water (jumping)

I did find a few snails and a pair of sweet women found Mr. No a couple of sand dollars.  We do visit gently with them and then return them to the ocean before we leave.  We never harm anything or attempt to bring them home. Here is Mr. No posing with one of his "little buddies".

The rest of the photos here are just the normal non-Mr. No beach photos. :)

the crystal clear water

 

a few of our friends

 

 

 

the sea gulls fighting over a stolen bagel

some of the horses on the beach:

and our view as we were leaving

It was a fun, relaxing, wonderful day and I almost can't wait until the weather warms up enough for us to go again.  I do hope there is some sort of spring this year rather than our typical months and months of winter followed by 2 weeks of spring before the unbearable heat of summer comes.

Crane Beach

Since I started this on Wednesday and we traveled here on Tuesday, I didn't get to start with our favorite beach for Mr. No.  Today was a migraine filled laze in bed in pain day so I didn't go anywhere even though H was home.  H, being the awesome guy that he is, took Mr. No back to Owen Bell Park so I could rest.  So I'm posting the photos from our trip to Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA.  This beach, while rather pricey on weekends, is the best beach for kids. Although if you go after 3pm, it's half price which is nice.  The water is shallow and there are little waves but what makes it awesome is at low tide there are tidal pools everywhere for timid and small children to play in.  Out in the ocean, the ocean floor is covered in snails, sand dollars and hermit crabs though I didn't find any crabs this week. Mr. No started out the beach day by pitching a massive fit on the beach.  Screaming, crying, throwing an all out tantrum.  He even started screaming at me to get out of a 1-inch deep tidal pool.  I don't know if it was the lack of a nap or just 3 year old fears but we almost had to leave.  He started to calm down a tiny bit and actually walked on the beach after a juice and a cookie.

Then I went out into the ocean and got a few snails for him to see and put them in a small tidal pool.  He forgot all about his fears and went right in the tidal pool to play with the snails..

This little guy was super friendly and stayed out when Mr. No held him.

Then he got a little tired of being picked up over and over again and hid in his shell.

After playing with the snails and sand dollars, he finally decided that the water was fun!  I got out of him in the car that he thought there were monsters and sharks in the water.  Not sure where that cam from because he's never been afraid of monsters.  Scooby Doo taught him that all monsters are just people in costume..."except Phantom Virus and his gang".  Mr. No reminds me of that every time.

Finally figured out that he could puddle jump at the beach...

and loved it!

 Mr. No even let me carry him out into the ocean! And it was his idea!  He only lasted about 5 minutes but it was very brave and I was very proud of him.

Yay! A smile!

The day started out a little rocky but we all ended up have a great time and Mr. No and I were sad to leave. We'll definitely be going back this summer...just after 3 and hopefully with a happier Mr. No.