Last Night

This was our last full day at the beach, and we are so sad. The kids have enjoyed every minute. Even Kyle, still feeling a little under the weather, just did not want to leave the pool this evening. He has had no fever since early yesterday morning and did not complain as much about his throat today. He did eat a lot of popsicles and nearly every time he asked for one, he reminded me that the doctor said he could eat popsicles. He also ate chips later and said they were fine for his throat. However, not all is rosy as he is now complaining of pain every time his ear is touched. I think he has swimmer's ear. He definitely is not used to so much swimming!

Charlie has been asking for seafood the entire week so tonight we went out to eat. The restaurant we chose had a limited kids menu and the only seafood choice was popcorn shrimp. He has had crabmeat before and liked it. They did have crabcakes on the menu but they have egg in them, so that was out of the question (and they were also $20!). He chose the popcorn shrimp, as did Joanna. I tried to dissuade her because I was fairly certain that she would not like them but the word "popcorn" was too powerful. Marcie chose not to order because she wanted a hamburger from McDonald's (it smells better she said!). She ended up eating some fries and bread. Kyle ordered a cheeseburger and enjoyed half of it (it was really too big for him). The waiter came over and asked Charlie if he liked the shrimp and he nodded. He kept saying, "mmm, mmm" and I thought he was really happy with his choice. Next thing I know, he is saying, "yuk, I don't like this part," and he was pointing to the shrimp. He had been eating the breading and putting the shrimp to the side! I noticed that Joanna had finished her french fries but was picking at her shrimp. You guessed it...she did not like it, either. Charlie ate some fries and polished off part of Kyle's cheeseburger. I really enjoyed my meal -- BBQ ribs, baked potato and broccoli! There was one funny part -- Charlie had leaned over to ask me something and he said, "something smells good." In between bites, I said, "my ribs," but he thought I said, "my lips," and he leaned over to smell my mouth. He and I both laughed about that!

After we got back to the condo, Marcie ate her chicken mcnuggets (she had decided against a hamburger) and I made Joanna a sandwich. (I told them that I was buying one meal for each of them and if they didn't like it, I would fix them something at home.) Kyle had a popsicle and Charlie went on the deck to watch fireworks. We then took a walk on the beach with a flashlight which Charlie had been wanting to do. They found a few seashells and we saw a sand crab. Actually, I think we scared it half to death. It ran but stopped so we found it with the flashlight. It is amazing how well they blend in with the sand but the beady little eyes stood out. It stared at me as I shined the flashlight on it and I really don't think it knew which way to move. Finally, it scampered away and we couldn't find it again. Marcie was a little frightened and she and I were both glad we had worn tennis shoes. Joanna never said a word. I think she was happy to get inside. Kyle and Charlie were both enthralled and wanted to look for more....but it was 11PM and I knew they really needed to get in bed. I finally got Charlie and Marcie in bed around midnight and I'm not far behind now. I'm enjoying these last few hours of listening to the ocean. It's so much nicer than the mechanical sounds of the wave machine I usually sleep with at night!