MONDAY AT THE BEACH

Starting the day on the beach with a yoga class is just about perfection...

Backing up, I actually started my day with eyes barely open, texting JE to see if they were up and liked the sound of bagels. They were and did. I rose to the occasion, literally, and headed out for bagels on Laskin Road at 7:00am. By 7:30am, all of us, except MA, were scattering bagel crumbs across our studio--the bed being the main piece of furniture in the room makes for an interesting breakfast-time and a crummy bedtime later... MA was back in 711 catching up on the sleep he missed by getting up with the kiddos before 6:00am.

Anyway, the yoga is great, even on an overcast morning. By the time my class ends, everyone has joined me on the beach for kite flying and sand scooping.

JE, LE, and I head out to Target about 10:15am as LE spotted little-girl wheeled luggage at the airports, and specifically asked me for her own suitcase. Who can resist? Absolutely not me. She chooses a purple one, with a NY skyline, over the pink one with a Paris skyline. Not sure Grandpa would support this choice...

We stop at Chik-fil-a for a bag of lunch before heading back to the beach. I'm having the second half of my Gringo Burrito from Johnny Manana's last night's dinner. I climb into bed with my book after lunch, and in the middle of a dental nightmare (dream) JE, CA, and JA break in to announce it's time for ice cream. I promised JA ice cream for this afternoon--after LE's nap, and the time is now! We take the cars down to 26th and Atlantic, and spend a bit of time choosing our flavors at Ben and Jerry's.

Guilt-ridden (I ate a whole bag of peanut-butter, chocolate-covered pretzels between bedtime last night and my nap tday...), I opt to walk the boardwalk on the return trip. I need to check out Tuesday's yoga schedule.

We're thinking Casby's for tapas tonight. Tapas will fill out our dining experiences so far... Friday night at Pi-zzeria; Saturday seafood at Surf Rider for CA and I; Sunday brunch at 11th Street Tap House (including a MYO Bloody Mary bar for Marielle) and a Mexican dinner at Johnny Manana's; Casby's for tapas tonight.

We need to get into our breakfast/early dinner routine, so we can take advantage of the early bird specials at Catch 31, Mahi Mah's, and Rockfish. Maybe we'll segue into that pattern tomorrow.

A really fun day with beach and pool time, ice cream in the afternoon, and a trip or two to Starbucks. We keep a moderate pace, but still have lots of time for lingering and lolling. Every day is a great day when you're at the beach.