Goodnight Beach, Goodnight Summer

I had passes left over from my attempts to get to Island Beach earlier in the summer.  My surgery messed up a lot of the summer and I could never work out a day to get there, outside of the day we tried when Orquidea was here.   I remembered that my Yuku friend, Jen, lived in Connecticut.  I wrote to her asking if she could get to Greenwich.  She said she could and a date was set.  This would be the first time I met Jen and my first Yuku meet-up in more than a year!

We arranged to meet at the Olive Branch, a deli near the Greenwich station.  Alex and I arrived at Greenwich earlier than the meeting time, so we took the opportunity to get some new books.  We picked up a Power Rangers book and two cute new readers entitled "Little Beaver and the Echo" and "The Seven Silly Eaters".  Then, we headed to the deli.  Jen came along with Alex and Spencer soon enough and we were off for Roger Sherman Baldwin Park to wait for the ferry.

My Alex and Jen's Alex got along amazingly.  Alex W. loved the ferry and my Alex was all too happy to have an enthusiastic sailing partner. 

On the island, the boys went in different directions.  Alex W. dashed off towards the water and my Alex went off towards the playground.  Neither boy would be pursuaded from their desired activity.  Not even  photos of Alex W. and Spencer playing with Alex's construction toys could move Alex.  He was all too happy to just stick with the toy he'd selected for play on the sand at the playground.

In fact, Alex seemed disappointed that Alex W was so excited to be at the beach and on a new island.  My Alex wanted someone to play with, but Alex W has a younger brother.   Having a playmate is such old news.  Island Beach isn't.   My Alex wasn't even into the swings even though Spencer got himself up onto a swing and Alex W wanted to join him there.

But then, Alex W got back into the water.  I was all too happy to join him there and we splashed around while Jen stayed closer to the beach to watch Spencer and my Alex.  My Alex insisted that he was not going in the water, despite his having loved it at Greenwich Point.  


Note that Alex W is wet, but that Alex D is dry from the legs up.



Digging at the shoreline

My Alex wanted to see if we could find another horseshoe crab shell like we'd found in June.  So, we went for a walk to explore.  Alex W wanted to know where it would be, but once he saw the reed covered ground we were walking on, he decided to go back in the water with his mom. 

Eventually, we wanted to get a snack.  We walked to the food stand and I ordered a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich despite the fact that Alex asked for a chocolate muffin.  I knew he'd want some of my sandwich.  But even better was the opportunity to show up those Orlando chicks (on Yuku).  They posted some drunk duck face.  We responded with a sober response. 

Soon, it started to rain and we dashed under the gazebo for shelter.  Jen went to the bathroom to get her boys dressed.  Alex stayed with me and the stuff in the gazebo.  He wasn't done playing in the sand.

Surprisingly, we were able to get a 5:30 ferry.  (I wasn't sure I could get changed in enough time.) Back on the ferry, the boys were very excited to watch the ferry pilot steer the boat.

Back in Greenwich, we grabbed some pizza for dinner.  Alex surprised me when he tagged along on one of Alex W's potty breaks.  Maybe that can wear off?  We can only hope.

Later that night, Daddy read Goodnight Beach to Alex.  It was a fitting close to a great summer.