memorial day weekend - film from the beach

some film from our rockaway beach day on memorial day weekend. 

it's tradition to go to the beach as a family on the first official weekend of summer, and i adore it, even if it means delayed trains and grumpy kids en-route. 

this year we bought a beach ball which, turns out, is actually the perfect beach toy. 

we also stopped for a couple of bags of junk food (as we always do) before hitting the sand. 

harvey looked for seashells, elle practiced her long jump, and jude played soccer via beach ball. 

it was perfect.

rockaway beach, 2019 & a hearty "goodbye, summer! we love you!"

the last thing left on our summer bucket list was a trip to the rockaways. we started summer with the beach (coney island on memorial day, then an immediate trip to miami the day after school was out for summer at the end of june!); it seemed perfectly fitting to spend our last full-free-day at the beach.

this particular beach is accessible via ferry, and i love taking this route (it's longer, but worth it)- we ride the subway to wall street, and then walk to the ferry where it takes about an hour to get from lower manhattan out to queens. the walk from the boat to the beach is short and easy. it's also stroller-friendly to do this route, opposed to the subway-only route which requires a LOT of steps. (i'm sure there are other beaches that likely have handicap accessibility, i just don't know of them.)

i was SHOCKED just how great my kids were- it's like they knew the sentiment of our outing:) elle and jude got along like 89% of the time, and harvey was totally content just hanging out near me the whole time. he played in the sand with his dump trucks (his newest obsession). the water was a little rough about 20' out, but the tide rolled in nice and low between the rough water and the beach, so elle & jude entertained themselves entirely in the waves' wake. the rockaways is in the jfk flight path, so i spent my time just staring into the sky and taking in all the pretty sights that is a queens, new york beach. 

a man walked by with a bell, selling scoops of ice cream out of his cart so we grabbed a couple of those, ate nutella sandwiches, sandy apples, and then stopped by rite aid on our way back to the ferry to get some new snacks for the ride home. after we landed at the port at wall street we stopped to get &pizza to-go and headed home on the train. magically, mike caught us at 42nd street and hopped our our car at rush hour for the last 10 minutes of the ride. harvey jumped into his arms and finally took a power nap at 5pm.

august was the month we really got into our summer stride. there's something about feeling like it's ending soon that really gets us going. the weather has been UNREAL- so much more mild than normal (78 on this particular day, and not-too-high humidity). the kids are finally all playing together for the most part, and i feel like we're getting into our stride. i mean, at the same time, they seem to have forgotten how to listen to me, and have tuned out their names so they drive me insane most days, but i love summer. i desperately love our adventures. i'm so grateful for their willing spirits, bribery, and these long, hot, sticky summer days in the city.

the rockaways, summer 2017, visit #1!

we went to the rockaways a few times last summer (one of my favorite visits here), and this summer FERRY SERVICE started from wall street to the rockaways for $2.75, which is amaaazing. i mean, it's not any faster than taking the subway, but it breaks up the trip (about 2 hours each way if i'm being honest- it always maps as less, but it's not). just to reiterate- you can get from midtown manhattan to an awesome beach within a couple hours of manhattan for less than $3!!! the rockaways were destroyed by hurricane sandy, so the beaches are brand new! the sand is good, and the crowds are usually low- this was the busiest part i've seen, i'm assuming because of its proximity to the ferry? still, totally do-able. and highly recommended by those of us needing a little escape;)

mike is out of town all this week on business (😫) so i asked the kids to make a list of things they wanted to do- the beach was at the very top. we decided to just jump in the deep end, and planned to go with a few friends early monday morning! i'm no expert, but i have concluded the secret to being on-time-ish is to pretend your arrival time is 30 minutes before your actual arrival time. we needed to leave the house by 8:45, so i told myself 8:15. we made it to the subway, downtown during rush hour with a lot of kids, strollers, and beach garb, and then to the ferry in time for it's departure! the kids loved the ride (although per the usual, we were out of snacks before we should have even cracked into them). we made the walk across the channel, onto a new-to-us part of the beach, and set up shop! my prepared friends had beach tents and actual beach toys (where was i on that one). harvey slept in the stroller as the wind blew around him. elle and jude are still scared enough of the water and sea life that i can sit on the sand and not have massive anxiety.

highlight: we spotted dolphins!

most terrifying moment: *sharp whistle blows* i turned to see all the lifeguards sprinting from their perches and bolting for the water- i turned from where i was standing with harvey on the water's edge and it was like someone pushed "pause" on life- the entire beach of people was frozen, staring as it unfolded. the 6+ lifeguards made it to 2 little kids trapped in a rip tide in astounding time and saved them. it was crazy.  

here are some pictures from our day...

note: ^^ the view from the pier at the rockaways over to manhattan!

also, this was clearly harvey's first visit to the beach. he mostly slept, ate, and squinted.

a massive hermit crab washed ashore!

as we walked from the ferry to the subway on our way home, i couldn't get over the view. everywhere you look in this city there is something to stop and take in- sometimes it's shocking, hilarious, new, or just humbling. 

we are SO excited summer is upon us! bring ooooooon the adventures!