road trip fun

 This may sound a little crazy, but when your kids have had enough of the car and start acting up... give them candy! Pop Rocks Candy! Hours of entertainment! 

ducks, swans and frogs!

Most days in Montauk are beach days, but we always make time to visit the duck pond in East Hampton. Lately our visits have been mostly focused around frogs. We say hello to the ducks and swans and then we're off in search of the elusive bullfrog.

We always hear him before we see him. He's pretty good at camoflauge. 

photo by Bree

*side note - this is daydreaming blog's 500th post! Wowza.

Surprise - Little Surfer Girl!

The quality of these pictures is terrible, but they had to be shared because they document an exciting occasion in the life of Bree - her first surfing lesson!  Bree's good friends Noah and Ben in Montauk are taking lessons and on our first day in town, Bree got a lesson from their instructor Mike, too. Now, I must admit I did not know how this was going to go. What a surprise it was to see Bree in action on the surfboard. I only had my cell phone to take pictures with and didn't capture much of the glory, besides this grainy shot of her (middle of frame):

Surf instructor Mike said she was the youngest person he'd ever done a lesson for, and she was fearless. Fearless? Sigh... I'm so glad she is brave but hope she has a tiny bit of healthy fear in her!

busy beach day!

Our second day in Montauk was a beautiful beach day! We enjoyed our time together as a family, and are happy to report that Ben did much less sand eating this year!

Check out this series of 4 pictures with Bree and the boogie board:

She is such a water girl! Her enthusiasm is contagious and inpired Mommy to sign up for swim lessons this summer to improve my own skills! This was also a great summer for finding little ocean critters in the rocks. Here are some pictures with a starfish and a little crab:

Holes were a big hit again this year!

Summer in Montauk, 2012

Ben checking out Tony's fishing boat... and bait!

Colorado Ben and Montauk Ben

Hello summer in Montauk - what a wonderful thing! Our first full day of vacation was an eventful one. After spending the day at Ditch Plains beach (surfing... if your name is Bree) we joined good friends at peaceful Navy Road beach for some food and a gorgeous sunset.

chomp!

fun with fingerpaints!

 This summer we put on our grungy clothes for backyard fingerpainting! Bree LOVED this activity, but she is an artsy girl so that was no surprise. I was curious to see what Ben would think and he didn't get into it nearly as well as his sister did. I'm not sure if it was too new, or he just doesn't like getting dirty. 

Backyard painting was a great idea but I was unprepared for how hard this was to manage with the kids. The wind was blowing a bit too much, and Ben kept trying to sneak into the house when I would get busy with helping Bree. Mommy was a little crazy by the end but I'm sure we'll do it again. The great news was it rained later that day and washed the paint off of the easel.

artwork by Bree

artwork by Ben and Mommy

A Quiet July 4th

Our hometown was on fire this summer. Over 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Sadly, 346 homes were lost to the Waldo Canyon fire. Though we were far enough away from the area the fire hit, it was unbelievable to see the smoke and flames and heart wrenching to think about those who lost so much in such a short time.

This year, July 4 was eerily quiet. I was so glad that everyone in our city seemed to understand the danger that fireworks pose in such a dry climate. We didn't hear or see a single one. Celebrating the 4th was a quiet affair at our house. Grammie and Uncle Scott came over for dinner, and when it got dark outside we gave Bree a stack of glow sticks to play with. (Ben was already in bed.) We did enjoy a delicious seafood dinner! It was fun to toss so much into a big pot and steam it on the stove.

Before...

After!

I tried to write down the ingredients and steps we used. It was so yummy, it tasted like the ocean. 

Ingredients:

2 bags live littleneck clams

2 bags live mussels

10 large raw shrimp

crab legs or lobster tails

fresh lemons

fresh parsley

fresh garlic

black pepper

bottle of Chardonnay

Steps:

1. Rinse crab and place in bottom of pot.

2. Rinse and inspect clams and mussels. Throw out any broken or open ones. Put into pot.

3. Slice fresh lemons in 1/2. Squeeze juice onto seafood. Toss lemons into pot.

4. Cut fresh parsley. Discard stems. Add to pot.

5. Add fresh garlic and black pepper to pot to taste.

6. Empty bottle of Chardonnay into pot.

7. Cover pot on high heat. Lower the heat when it begins to boil. Steam covered seafood until it appears ready.