Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Beach {Brady Bucket List}


The summer fun continues and Chicago weather has not disappointed us.  It has been in the 90’s every day this week; brilliant sunshine has given all of our skin a glow, and the wind. Goodness, the windy city it living up to its reputation this week.

I grew up around the water. I am not sure I know why or how, but I know that I was in the water my entire childhood- swimming lessons, lazy afternoons with my parents at our public pool, parties at the waterpark and then working as a lifeguard for almost my entire teen years and early twenties.  Vacations in our household always revolved around water whether it was in Florida, Lake of the Ozarks or the Caribbean.   And for whatever reason, I still love the water.  When we lived on Lake Shore Drive, the best thing about our building was the amazing pool we had on our second floor and having Lake Michigan in our front yard.  Fortunately for me my kids love it too. Taking a bath is a favorite activity in our house daily.   

Notice Cate being her typical busy self trying to grab at Brady. Brady usually cares but was cooperating for this shot. 


Sibling love 

Brady has been talking about the beach for months. I am not sure how it even started. Maybe from watching Mickey Mouse but honestly one day he just kept telling me he wanted to go to the beach.  That is where his trucks go when he runs them across our kitchen floor.  He asks me daily if we are “going to beach to play in the sand”? The proof that he loves the beach is in his shoes when he comes home for school. Sand in every crevice of his socks and shoes from the playground at his daycare.  He plays in it at any opportunity. If we go to a park that has a sand pit, he finds it.    

We ventured to Foster Avenue Beach. We had to take a lot of stuff since it was in the high 90’s.  A cooler full of water, fruit and snacks, a beach bag full of toys, towels, sheets, a stroller to get the stuff and him there and sunscreen.  The toughest part of the day was getting to and from the beach. 


Once we got there, he was in heaven. Seriously, in sand heaven.  He immediately started digging and throwing sand.  

He filled his buckets, patted the sand, he dumped the buckets, and did this cycle all over again. He even ventured in to the water.  He realized it was shallow and got daring enough to sit in it since I did.  The water was pleasantly warm and the beach was packed.  We used buckets and dump trucks and shovels and cups.  We poured water in to holes that we dug, we stepped in the holes, we buried our feet and  just enjoyed the morning.  He would "plop" sand on my legs as I sat at the water's edge and every time he did it, he smiled. 





Look at his monster feet at 2.5  

We had sand in every crevice and found some on the kitchen floor and his bedroom floor when I was putting him to bed last night. I think that is just what I needed to know that our beach day was a success.  

2 comments:

  1. Kristi--these are so cute! What great memories!

    I remember always being at the pool together every day in the summer! Sadly, I think I have videos of that around here somewhere (I should probably burn those)!

    I saw your mom in one of the Navy Pier pictures. Tell her I said "hi!"
    Sara (Burnett) Curran

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  2. How cute! Brayden is terrified of the swimming pool, but loves the bathtub. Weird. Glad you had a successful day!

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