Our cold and warm feet

I have lost track of many snow storms have we had so far this winter. Maybe eight. I'm totally bummed, but not so much about the snow. I'm sad that I will have to retire my totally awesome funky-looking and warm snow boots. Water is starting to seep in at the toes.

As I sit here at the computer with cold, damp feet and mourning my favorite and lone pair of snow boots, I can't help but wish I could warm them up on a warm sandy beach somewhere. Walking on a warm sandy beach is definitely on my top ten list of favorite things in the whole world. So, indulge me on this next post as I reminisce about our one and only trip to the beach last year.

(Please excuse the lame intros to these next few posts as I am trying to catch up.)

Let it not be said that I did not go to the beach in 2010. I have made it to the beach at least once every summer my entire NYC life and I was not about to break my tradition. Going to the beach is very important to me. It's therapeutic to me. It was the week after Labor Day and all the children were back in school. The weather forecast called for mostly sunny skies with temps in the mid 80s. Liam had been begging to go all summer. I simply could not resist taking our postponed trip to the beach. It was our very last chance. So, I did it. For probably the first time ever with my little boy, I was spontaneous and granted his wish. I rounded up all of our usual beach stuff in record time: towels, blanket, swimsuits, beach toys, change of clothes, Liam's water shoes (which I spent half the summer looking for), drinks, fresh fruit, sandwiches, Liam's usual snack foods, and my salty snack (because there is nothing better than a salty snack at the beach... I think it's that salty air that makes me crave it big time when I'm there.)

 We parked just steps away from the boardwalk. Nice! I could hardly contain the giddiness as we walked across the boardwalk and down onto the beach in the anticipation of stepping on that warm sand. Oooooh, blissful!

From what we could see, there were all of about twenty people at Long Beach, including Liam and me. We so wished daddy could have been there with us. We set up and then ran to the water. The perfectly warm waters were so inviting for a good swim. Too bad about no lifeguard on duty. Oh, yeah, and the toddler in tow. (Sigh.) But we ended up having just as much fun if not more, wetting our feet in the warm water and running away from the waves, much to Liam's delight, and still getting pretty wet in the process. Here are our little piggies in the warm, wet sand.

  We walked along the shore, my little boy and I holding hands. There was a sweet, sweet moment I will never forget. Liam looked up at me and said, "I like holding your hand, mama!" -squeezing mine really tight. (Sigh.) I'm so crazy about this little boy! We gathered some sea shells and then headed back to our blanket.

Wrapped up in our towels, we started our snack fest. Here is little Liam having his salty snack. He is relishing every moment since I never buy these things for snacks at home. Then, the fog started to roll in, practically kicking us out of the beach. And so we bid farewell to the delicious ocean air and the warm sand on our feet until the summer of 2011.

Now back to our regularly scheduled snow shoveling..... and cold feet.