Hang'n with GG and the beach again

Ah New York, how I love you so.

Day two here went as well as day one, maybe even better. James was very nervous at first with "GG" (Great Grandma Florence) but he is slowly warming up to her. GG is wonderful with him and James is so darn adorable, it is hard to not smile when he's grinning back at you.

The night before we went to my Aunt Carolyn's for dinner. James warmed up to GG quite a bit.
Do you see me in the mirror?
We spent the morning of day two eating NY bagels (again) and playing with James in Grandma's living room. During his morning nap my Grandma and I sipped coffee in her kitchen and talked about stories of her childhood. I took four pages of notes, and did a blog entry about all the stories she shared with me. Some of them are just heartbreaking.

I digress. After James's morning nap we packed up and headed to Jones Beach again. The day was less windy than the previous day, and since James knew what to expect, he seemed to enjoy himself even more than the first day on the beach.

Again he stomped in the wet sand, happily squealed as the waves hit his feet and watched some kids throwing a football back and forth on the beach for awhile. E and I took turns watching James as the other one would go into deeper water and jump and tumble in the the waves.

Jones Beach is one of the best places in the world.







Soon we were hot, tired, sandy and ready to head home. Once we arrived back at GG's we all took a nap, James for about two hours. What a wonderful man.

Then for dinner we packed up some baby food in a cooler and headed to Freeport's Nautical Mile for a seafood dinner on the water. E and I had been to Freeport years before and have such fond memories of it, we were excited to go back.

My Grandma knew right where to go and expertly guided us to the best restaurant in town, the one where you could actually sit out on the pier for dinner and watch the boats coming and going.

James was thrilled. And we all happily ate crab cakes, fish and chips, lobster rolls and enormous piles of fries and I fed James peaches, tomatoes and cottage cheese. Swans lazily glided past, deep sea fishing boats docked below us at the restaurant's own dock, and speed boats zipped by. The sky darkened from a beautiful powder blue to a deep steal gray.
Dinner at the end of the pier. Amazingly fun.



Watching the boats with Daddy. I love this one.
Isn't the first photo of my Grandma and James so sweet? James has his little hand on my Grandma's arm and she is lovingly looking at him.

Soon dinner was done and we headed up the street to get our first Italian Ice of the trip. Italian Ice is wonderful, kind of like ice cream, kind of like a snow cone. Smooth and creamy but not made from cream. We knew James would love it.

I ordered a mango and E decided on piña colada. We aren't sure which flavor James adored more, all we know that if there wasn't Italian Ice between his lips at all times, he'd get mad. He loved the stuff.

What a wonderful day with the people I love.