It's NH Time, Part 5

On Wednesday, Doug and I asked Gramma and Grampa to watch Penn for the bulk of the day so we could take the big boys to the beach.  Although we missed Penn, it was great to have our hands free and be able to enjoy Koen and Tavin at the ocean.  We got there around 10:30am and as soon as they were smothered in sunscreen, they were running in the waves.

Doug and the boys spent a lot of the morning digging out an elaborate trench and wall system to stave off the coming tide.  After all that hard work it was time for lunch, of course.

Koen and I spent some time out in the waves.  He was trying to be so brave with the strong pull of the undercurrent and the high, crashing waves.  It was so fun to be out there with him.  Tavin had a big story going with his diggers while we were out enjoying the surf.

After almost 4 hours on the beach, we headed to the second part of our day.  Doug had brought his bike and Koen's and they set out on a 6 and 1/2 mile bike ride to a huge used bookstore in an old barn.  Tavin and I set out on foot for a long walk.  We set our course to take us right past my favorite ice cream stop, The Beach Plum.  Tavin and I took our ice cream across the street to share in front of the ocean.  I loved our little date.

Afterwards we walked further up the coast through Little Boars Head.  This is one of my favorite stretches of seacoast.  Tavin enjoyed it too which meant so much to me.  We walked all the way to the bench that sits overlooking the ocean with a plaque on it in memory of my grandparents.  I thought it was so neat to see my Tav sitting there where my Nana enjoyed so many walks and moments at the ocean.

Doug and Koen took some of their own pictures which I received later via text.  Koen looks pretty proud of himself!

After the first mile and a half or so, they headed inland on Atlantic Ave. or Rt. 111.  It is very scenic and quintessential New England.  Complete with old farms, fencing and even race horses out to pasture.

Tavin and I arrived back at the beach where we started and loaded up the van and then headed to collect our bikers at the bookshop.  Doug was praising Koen for his hard work biking so far and his good job listening along the way.  I was so thankful they got their safely as one of the roads is quite busy, but I was also proud of my eldest for his big accomplishment!  Good job, Koen!  The boys were certainly worn out and enjoyed chilling out in the van on our way back home.  We got to stop in Manchester at a family favorite restaurant, La Carreta, to meet my parents and Penn for dinner.  Yum!  Penn, by the way, had a seamless day with my parents.  He has really warmed up to them and it's just amazing to me that I can leave him with someone and he doesn't cry the whole time!

On Thursday, we felt the affects of having the big boys at the seacoast for most of Wednesday...tired bugs!  Koen especially seemed so worn out.  He is at such a tender spot developmentally now.  He is trying to be the independent big boy, but at the same time still craves dependency, inclusion and comfort for us.  It's like he's often stuck in between wanting to push us away and be his own man and then also needing us so badly.  He cried at least 3 times before 10am over the simplest things.  Heart-breaking to see him so torn.  I know it's natural, but it's not easy watching it.  I'm trying so hard to be gracious and comforting as I think he is putting himself through enough toil right now figuring out life on tough days.  Anyways, due to the tiredness we figured would occur we didn't have big plans on Thursday.  We enjoyed being around my parents and of course that meant a ride of some sort.  Grampa got the Corvette out again so the boys could have rides before Koen and Doug left on Friday.  Koen again was so generous and suggested that Tavin have the first ride.  I got to be his ride helper this time.  Lucky me!  Tavin literally smiles the entire ride.  It's fantastic.

Before I jumped out of the passenger seat after our ride I took Penn in for a quick photo.  He looks like he will enjoy a Corvette ride in his future.

Koen then bounded into the Corvette with his booster seat talking every minute.  Grampa was such a good sport with this over-tired basket-case.  They had a nice ride together.

After the Corvette it was time for nap...yay!!!  Boy, did the boys need downtime.  Not to mention, Doug and I had plans for a final date afternoon/evening thanks to my parents generously babysitting yet again.  Before we took off I grabbed these pictures to prove that Penn is so good with Gramma now, it's so exciting!

We got the little guys down for naps and set Koen up with a little PBS show and headed down to Portsmouth and the coast (yep, again, we can't get enough).  We had an afternoon of walking around, stopping in shops, enjoying a snack on the river-side of Bow Street (view seen here).

One fun spot we found was a used book store.  They had a good religion section for Doug and a great kid's section for me to peruse.  Yeah, we clearly have different day jobs, check out our purchases.

After awhile combing the streets in Portsmouth we jumped back in the car to head towards Rye Beach for a walk.  It was beautiful.  It is so quiet on the water in the evening.  Barely anyone on the beach or out in the water.  It felt like we had the landscape practically to ourselves.

As it started to darken we decided to grab a quick bite as our earlier snack was wearing off.  We grabbed a table on the deck at Ray's Seafood right across the street from where the above photo was taken.  We got to watch the day turn to night over the ocean.  So fun to be there at night as we usual are at the ocean during the day (and by usually, I mean the few times a year we get to go).  We enjoyed our last night at the seacoast together so much.  It means so much to me that Doug has such an appreciation for a spot that is so dear to me.  Thanks for a great date, baby!  (Thanks to Mom and Dad too, they did a great job with all 3 boys who were sleeping soundly by the time we got home).

Friday morning was departure day for Koen and Doug.  And it was pouring.  They left at 9am and it ended up taking 9 hours to get to Doug's parents.  When they made the trip up from there about a week and a half ago it took only 7.  Poor guys!  I was so thankful to get the call that they arrived safely though as they were in heavy rain all day which can make for bad driving conditions.  Thank you, Lord, for getting them there safely!  Back in NH, the little guys and I had a low key day indoors mostly due to the rain.  Here's a picture of Tavin posing with Penn (he requested I take a picture).  He was trying to be a good example and show Penn how to drink milk.

Trying to get Penn to drink milk has been an almost two month attempt that has not yet been successful.  His first few days of the new drink went really well and then he is now totally turned off from it.  Here's mom a few days ago using a teddy bear to try and teach him (it actually almost worked and now Penn just loves having the teddy at the table).

Anyways, later in the day the rain cleared finally and we did get some outdoor time in the yard.  After the little guys were in bed I had a nice walk and look at some new friends I made!  They were so brave.  They just stared at me as I walked super close to them.  Then I decided to leave them alone and let them enjoy their snack in peace and turned my walk around in the other direction.

Well, just a few more days left for NH adventures...stay tuned!