Monday, September 13, 2010

Summer wasn't quite over yet

I claimed summer was over last week on my First Day of School post the other day because school had started and there was no more summer vacationing to be done. Turns out I WAS WRONG! Shocking, I know. ;p Ha ha ha.

I couldn't be happier about this error, though, because it involved a gorgeous day at the beach, spending time with my best friend from childhood and her lovely family and bonding with my girls. My husband stayed home to take care of his dad and catch up on some work for his job, so this was a girls day out.

My dear friend from childhood, whom I know I've spoken of on my blog in the past {Surprise Birthday Celebration and Pit Stop }, called me last week to invite me to join her and her family on their last long weekend getaway at a beach house at the New Jersey shore. Not only could I not resist the opportunity to prolong summer a bit by spending a day at the beach, but most importantly, I didn't want to miss the chance to spend time with my girlfriend and her lovely family--especially since she lives two plus hours north of me in the beautiful Hudson Valley region of New York state, and it's just so hard to schedule time to see each other as regularly as we both wish. The beach at which she was staying was only an hour from us, so on Saturday morning, the girls and I packed a cooler, grabbed the sunscreen and beach towels and our cameras and headed to the beach.

We shared a picnic lunch of sandwiches, rolled up ham for my non-sandwich eating tween, grapes, pretzels and thin mints. I have a couple of boxes of girl scout thin mints stashed in the far recesses of the freezer for just such an occasion.

There was a whole lot of picture taking, sand rolling, boogie boarding, body surfing, jelly fish ... um... collecting?, frisbee throwing, sea shell seashell searching, sea gull chasing, sunbathing and girl friend hanging around going on...

my girl photographer


my beautiful girls










rolling in the sand


pet jelly fish


preparing for the surf


charge those waves


twins braving the surf, leading the way for their dad


riding the wave ALL the way in for her close up


my girl photographer in action


me and ange


I also managed to read a chapter of Seduction In Death by J.D. Robb somewhere along the line. Right before the nap. :)

Back at the house we snacked on some crackers with cream cheese and spicy jalapeno peach preserves that I made last week before we said our good byes and headed home. The weather was just perfect for a day at the beach and it was tempting to stay longer, but I missed my husband too much and wanted get home and have dinner with him. We ordered out Thai food, which was Ooo la la good. Curry Puffs and Pad Se Ew equals a happy me.

The only way this day could have been better would have been if my husband was with us, too. Other than that... a perfectly happy ending to the summer.

the end.


Now summer is over.


18 comments:

  1. That's awesome, Christine! It looked like a beautiful day to spend celebrating the end of Summer :D.

    You got some amazing photos of your girls also!

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  2. What a lovely day, and a lovely memory!

    Thank you, Christine--and what beautiful girls you have! (of course, couldn't be otherwise with their beautiful mom! ;-) )

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  3. Looks like you had a fantastic time! And, OMG - lock that girl up!

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  4. Thanks Amy and azteclady. :)
    It was such a gorgeous day and I will definitely cherish the memory of it and pull it out in the dead of winter to warm my bones.

    What sweet words, azteclady. Thank you... but I must give half the credit to my handsome husband. I admit we sure do make beautiful babies together. ^_^

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  5. Lori, this surprise day at the beach sure was like a little gift. Such a great day.

    I know! The scary thing is that her younger sister is right behind her and then I'll have to lock up both of them!

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  6. That looks like so much fun. :) The summer is pretty much over here. It's been in the 50's and 60's. But still very nice out.

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  7. What a gorgeous weekend we had! You were lucky to have enjoyed it at the beach. Gorgeous pictures from BOTH photographers. :D

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  8. It looks as though you had a wonderful time. And the pictures of your daughters are all gorgeous! Have a fabulous day!

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  9. What a beautiful day! And what gorgeous girls (and their goregeous mother :) As for locking your eldest up...I bet you & your husband have instilled in her self-confidence and self-worth, and she'll make good decisions :)

    Oh...summer...I think you're on the way (I do think it's a little warmer here and the days are drawing out...finally :) I hope some of that lovely weather comes our way over the summer!

    So glad you got to spend some time with your BF - fingers crossed next time your husband can join you.

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  10. Oh wow, Christine! Awesome! If the weather was as nice as what I got, you had an incredible week-end ;)

    And your girls are indeed beautiful. Is it wrong for me to say that your oldest has an incredible body? You'll be beating off boys in not too long!

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  11. It looks like you all had a fantastic time! It's so nice to get away for a bit and spend some time with family and friends.

    Your girls are gorgeous. I know I've said it before but seriously you need to think about locking them up and not letting them out for a while! lol

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  12. Perfect Day! Isn't it great when everything just falls into place? Too bad your hubby wasn't there but you got some great pictures to show him. :)

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  13. Wow Christine, what a lovely day and pretty faces of course. I'm sure your photographer got some great shots. You sure all had a fun day!

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  14. Anna, it WAS a very fun day. We scored a perfect beach day. Truly.

    It sure sounds like summer is pretty much over with temps in the 50's and 60's. The weather has been so pleasant here in NJ the last few days. Cool mornings in the low 60s and warm days in the mid 70's. I'll take it!

    Hilcia, Saturday's weather was so nice, wasn't it? Today was gorgeous too! I just love the chilly nights and warm, sunny days. :D

    Brandy, Thank you!! :D

    orannia, Thanks for the compliments! What a nice thing for you to say about the qualities my husband and I have instilled in our eldest that equip her with good decision making. I believe that also, but boy do these teens test our confidence in our parenting. LOL!

    I'm glad you're starting to see signs of spring now. You are, right? You must be at least mentally preparing for the growing season.

    nath, my teen certainly does have a beautiful body. I already feel like chasing the boys away!!!

    Tracy, it's not easy seeing your babies look all grown up, feminine and curvy. Just you wait, yours are right behind mine!

    Leslie, it seems to me that plans made only a shrot few days ahead of time work out best sometimes. I took 402 photos on Saturday and made my husband look at every single one. LOL. My teen took 405, but I haven't seen all of hers yet.

    Natalie, thank you, my dear. The shots of my teen's that I did see already were fantastic. She's so good at portraits. I may end up framing the best ones of her kids for my girlfriend for her birthday or something. She LOVES the beach and has a subtle beach theme running through the decor in her home, so I bet she'd love it.

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  15. Your girls are so beautiful... and the pictures are gorgeous! Looks like a good time :)

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  16. Thanks, Mariana! :)

    I wish I were at the beach again right now. I just want to lay there and doze and smell the beach, listen to its sounds and feel the sand between my toes and the sun on my skin!

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  17. Looks and sounds like you had a beautiful day at the beach. :) Too bad your husband couldn't be with you but you have lovely pictures to share with him.

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  18. Thanks, Taja. It was a beautiful day. The forecast is for more gorgeous summer-like weather this weekend. I'm so tempted to get to the beach again!

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