Wonderful World of Victoria

Last of the Wave Jumping

2009-07-29T21:31:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately this was the end of the wave jumping. Victoria and Daddy spent a little more time out in the surf. Victoria started complaining of sand in her swimsuit and started pulling at the swimsuit bottom. I took her up to the hotel bathroom next to the pool area. Cleaned out her swimsuit, patted her down, had her go to the bathroom, then went back to the beach. We'd no sooner gotten there. She went in the surf once or twice and she came back to me crying that it hurt. She was near hysterical and inconsolable, sitting in a beach chair just crying her eyes out. I packed up as much as I could from the beach and dragged myself and Victoria back to our hotel room as fast as I could. We were no sooner in the room than I had her stripped out of the swimsuit and into the tub. She was so much better once she was under the shower spray. I turned on the water for the tub too so once we got the sand off her, she could sit in the bath and play.

No beach for tomorrow. Will have to find something else to do.

Car Park and Castle Walls

2009-07-29T21:15:00.000-04:00

Okay. So here are all of the cars parked. There's Lightning McQueen, Sally, Mater, and Doc. All up there on top of the mountain house.

Here's Daddy making very nice, very perfect castle walls to circle the mountain. Victoria is digging in there with him, getting a lesson on how to get the right kind of sand for molds.

Sigh... Look at that so not-crumbly line of walls. Of course I don't take the time to get really nice looking castle walls so I shouldn't complain that Jeff's look better.

Enter... The Cars

2009-07-29T20:26:00.001-04:00

I suspect this picture is Victoria telling to to come on, come play. I got down on the sand to play with the cars too.

I'm trying to remember all the cars names this year. They've changed from last year. The red one is Lightning, of course. The purple one is Sally. The train is Mater, I think. So here all the cars got stuck in the dirt and Mater had to come along and unbury them and tow them out of the sand.

Of course, if we were going to play with the cars, I needed to create a car park, a road, and a mountain/castle/headquarters. Here's Lightning McQueen motoring down the road toward the mountain house.

Several of the cars have made the trip from the car park along the road. Now they're being parked on top of the castle.

Hold On, There's a Victoria at the Gates

2009-07-29T20:14:00.002-04:00

While Victoria and Daddy are playing in the surf, I build sand castles. I can stay near the shade and dig in the sand. I have fun. This one isn't too elaborate. Most of my time was spent digging down to get to wet sand and building up my sand castle mound. I tried decorating it with the starfish mold but it didn't turn out too well. It broke up from the angle.

Even more fun is watching Victoria knock down my sand castles. Here comes Victorizilla again. There go the castle gates. :)

Ah, and here's a leap to be proud of... right to the top of the castle to knock down the towers.

Victorizilla grinning proudly at her destruction skills on top of the destroyed castle.

Wave Jumping and Sandy Girl

2009-07-29T19:54:00.002-04:00

I had to include this picture here. Not only can you see how high Victoria jumps when she's wave jumping. Also, take a look at the waves rolling in from beyond them. Daddy got quite a workout holding onto Victoria.

My sandy girl... she needed a wash in the water bucket before getting some lunch.

She was very good about cleaning up. She didn't want to litter the beach. And, more importantly, she didn't want the pigeons and seagulls getting her food. So long as she pointed out which garbage can she was heading toward, she could walk over on her own.

A New Day and Back to the Surf

2009-07-29T19:44:00.001-04:00

I think I saw the dolphins just about every day that we were at the beach. I rarely had my camera at the time or I didn't have the right lens on. I saw them before we headed down to the beach and grabbed the camera. Even with the long lens on I couldn't get very good pictures. There were a lot of them out there. A couple looked like they were young dolphins or calves.

Victoria didn't want me taking pictures. She wanted to go to the beach. And she threw quite the tantrum about it. She kept shaking me or my arm. I'm surprised I got as many good picture as I did with her antics going on. I finally gave up on the dolphin pictures.

Victoria wanted to hit the surf as soon as we got down to the beach. I think I made her wait and help me set up our spot on the beach before she headed to the surf. LOL! So impatient. She finally dragged Daddy down the beach after I released her from "helping". The surf was definitely rougher today. Still as much fun for Victoria. She showed no fear.

Look at those waves coming in at them. Victoria's practically up to her waist in the surf.

I'm not sure if she got knocked down by the surf or if she's ducking down to get wetter. The boogie boarders were having quite a day. You can see one of them riding a wave into shore. Another couple years that will probably be Victoria if she keeps loving the beach as much.

End of the Day

2009-07-28T22:40:00.002-04:00

I like this picture here. Victoria is helping me build the sand castle. Well, she's doing the decorations for the sand castle. Daddy is flying the kite in the background.

Here's Miss Helpful...

LOL! Guess we should be glad she didn't tangle up the kite's tail from the looks of this picture.

And, Destructo Girl at work destroying the sand castle. LOL! How about the height on that jump as she dove onto the sand castle?

Sea Horses and Sand Castles

2009-07-28T22:37:00.000-04:00

We couldn't fit the big orange sand pail in the car to bring with us this year. So we bought a couple different ones at CVS on our first day going to the beach. One was a kit that included a pail, shovel, sifter, frisbee, and seahorse and starfish molds. Victoria rather liked the larger molds. She's trying out her hand with the seahorse here.

Turning it over and patting it a couple times to get the sand to loosen up. About to reveal the finished product.

Lifting off the plastic and checking out how the seahorse came out. I didn't think it was too bad. The tail might have been a little crumbly.

It did not pass the Victoria test though. So, there it goes. Knocked down to be done again. The beauty of working in sand.

I'd been working on the rest of the castle for a while. The sand was starting to dry out and sift back down. Still, it was a rather nice castle. Victoria did a good job decorating it with seahorses and starfish in between towers and walls. You can sort of see one of the starfishes in the lower right hand corner of the picture if you squint real hard.

Another Day to Fly Kites

2009-07-28T22:36:00.001-04:00

Helping to get the kite up into the air.

She needed some direction from Daddy before she was able to figure out how to help. And, there it goes.

Daddy get the kite up off the ground and flying.

Victoria taking her turn at flying the kite. I love these pictures of her. You can't see it in the long pictures. In some of the closeups she has such a grin on her face.

Lunch and Destruction

2009-07-28T22:31:00.001-04:00

Some yummy yogurt for lunch. She really likes those Go-Gurts. I must say that they're a good thing to pack in our lunchbox for traveling. She still eats her Dora or Diego yogurt at lunch at home or school.

She was really good at taking care of the trash while we were on the beach. She really didn't want the seagulls or pigeons coming down and taking her food.

She was also let loose a little bit. So long as I knew where she was going and could keep an eye out, I let Victoria roam a little farther afield this year. It was a little busy for her to go too far. But, she enjoyed being able to run out onto the open beach areas.

And, of course, another sand castle bites the dust. She did help a little to build this one before knocking it down. I enjoy the faces she makes as she's destroying them. She has soooo much fun.

Victori-zilla

2009-07-28T20:47:00.000-04:00

While Victoria and Daddy played in the surf, I built a sand castle. Okay, so I didn't extend the mote all the way around the castle. And, some of my walls were a little crumbly. But, I liked it.

Here's Victoria getting a gander at my castle. She wanted to be able to knock it down. That's all she was waiting for.

And, of course, I told her to go ahead. Here's Victori-zilla at the gates to the castle.

Another picture.. Victori-zilla climbing up castle mound to smash the buildings at the top. She had a blast. What took me quite a while to build, she knocked flat in minutes. Can't begrudge her the fun. I can make more sand castles.

A Second Day of Surf Jumping

2009-07-28T19:18:00.001-04:00

She headed straight for the surf as soon as we got down to the beach. She barely stopped while the guy set up the beach umbrellas and the chairs before dragging Daddy down to the surf. She had just as much fun today. There were plenty of smiles from her.

Love That Smile

2009-07-28T00:13:00.000-04:00

She's just loving being in the surf.

Sand Baby

2009-07-28T00:08:00.002-04:00

Here's Victoria sanding herself. She'd pour sand over herself and then run over to me and tell me that she needed to wash off in the surf. I'd respond by telling her that I'd dump a bucket of water over her head. She's squeal and run away. Then go back to sitting in the sand pouring sand over herself. Silly girl!

I have no idea what she was doing in this picture. I just find it fascinating from the pose. Most likely... she's dancing to her own tune.

Hmmm... definitely sand baby here.

Sand and Kites

2009-07-27T23:51:00.000-04:00

More Victoria in Surf pictures

2009-07-27T22:50:00.002-04:00

See my little daredevil there... She's in pretty deep. That's waist high on her.

I managed to capture some of the actual wave jumping. She gets some good height on that jump.

Carting back some water for Mommy. That's kinda heavy.

And one of the funniest antics from Victoria... laying down in the surf, using a frisbee to scoop water into the bucket. Of course, it was just an excuse to be in the surf.

Surf Baby

2009-07-27T19:40:00.003-04:00

The waves were pretty strong today. I got some really cool pictures of some of the larger ones cresting.

Victoria has turned into a surf baby. That was the theme of the day. She wanted to jump waves. Get a load of that grin. It's a good thing that Daddy likes to wade out into the waves too.

Not too tough there. Not too high.

\
Getting in a little deeper there. Waiting for the wave to come in.

I'm pretty sure Daddy had to shepherd her back towards the beach. She's inch a little farther out each time to meet the waves.

Travel Day and Arrival

2009-07-26T23:14:00.002-04:00

Traveling to Ocean City Maryland on Sunday. Victoria is engrossed watching the 101 Dalmations Patch's London Adventure. We picked up DVDs for her to watch when we were shopping on Saturday getting ready to go.

It was pretty hot when we stopped as Smyrna for a rest break. Victoria had just finished a Backyardigan's episode so she was ready to get out. She spotted the park from the fountain and we headed over there. She swung a little bit but couldn't get on the seesaws this time. Too hot. We got a bottle of water out of the vending machines before heading out again.

We decided to stop at the Dough Roller for dinner before heading to the hotel. Victoria wasn't too enthusiastic about a picture at dinner. I interrupted her word search. Overall, she did pretty good at dinner. She didn't like their toasted cheese because the cheese wasn't orange like at Ruby Tuesday. Guess I have a cheese connoisseur on my hands.

However, she did like getting a toy at the end of the meal. She picked out a jet plane. We waited on the sidewalk while the bill was paid so that Victoria could play with the jet without getting underfoot.

It was a good thing we stopped for dinner when we did. We were just getting in the car when the first rain drops hit. We were in a good downpour driving the last couple blocks to the hotel. The good news was that we could settle in and watch the rain without having to head back out. After a long day, we managed to get Victoria settled in bed around 9pm and we kicked back and relaxed for a couple more hours before calling it a night.

July 4th mini vacation

2009-07-24T12:13:00.004-04:00

Or... is that what they're calling a Stay-cation nowadays?

Anyway, we stayed home and did day trips for the holiday. Here are a few favorites.

At the Baltimore Aquarium:

This picture cracks me up. Get a load of the pose, the pointing finger, and the pout.

Obviously she gets her sense of direction from her mother.

We're in the Animal Planet Australia section:

Really loved it in there. Hard to read the text on this picture. It says, "Victoria really enjoyed the Animal Planet Australia exhibit. I think the turtles were the biggest hit there. She found them in quite a few of the tanks. The crocodiles were probably a close second."

Not unexpectedly, another big hit... the Dolphin show:

I got to try out my 70-300mm lens. Loved it. Not quite as fast on the focus as the 55-200mm. But still, some excellent photos of the dolphins in action.

Not Quite How I Planned

2009-07-18T15:32:00.004-04:00

to spend the day.

Victoria spent the morning playing Dora the Explorer Save the Snow Princess on the PlayStation. She did manage to take a break and eat some breakfast before going right back to the game. Amazing the level of concentration she has. She finished the game by the way. Probably let her play way too long. She used the age old phrase... "Just a little bit longer, Mom."

Another break for some lunch. She ate mostly goldfish. Wish I could figure out what the next big food will be for her. So far I'm striking out. I left her playing the game while I took a shower. I guess she'd finished the game while I was in the shower because she came in to ask if she could play another part of the game.

When I got out, she talked me into playing the Dora the Explorer game with her. I had to find a second controller for that. I managed to get the wireless game controller to work. Yay! I played Boots. We were doing some kind of two player competition. Thank goodness it's not too difficult. Guess I'm at the level of a pre-schooler. :)

I managed to get her dressed. She looks adorable in the new skort I bought on sale at The Childrens Place. Jeff will tell you I've spent way too much on clothes for Victoria this year. Can't help it.. she's interested in wearing skirts finally. And, I'm not interested in doing laundry too often.

I've suggested going grocery shopping a couple times. :) Obviously I'm not making much progress as we're still here and it's almost 4pm. She's gone off each time and played quietly by herself. She's only asked once to watch TV and once to play the game again. Each time when I've said no, she's gone back to playing by herself.

I bought some cheap gel window clings at CVS when we went to get her medicine after I found out we'd be home for next couple days. We got red and blue stars and some summery clings (sun, waves, beach ball, flip flops, swim suits). They've been an endless source of amusement for Victoria. She makes up all kinds of stories and games to go with it. She puts them on the window and takes them off and puts them back on the plastic sheets.

Not quite how I pictured spending our Saturday on our own. She's happy the way she's playing so I guess I can't complain.

Through the Years

2009-07-17T09:32:00.004-04:00

Hard to believe how much she has changed. Here's the proof though. It tugs on my heartstrings to look back through the photos and see how she's grown. This is one of those sets of photos that I sit and stare at... just because.

Ready Set Go

2009-07-16T21:17:00.001-04:00

Soccer??

2009-07-14T21:15:00.003-04:00

We had so much fun...

2009-07-14T21:10:00.001-04:00

Girls Day Out Post II

2009-07-12T10:03:00.009-04:00

We headed over to Dukes Lagoon after lunch. It was perfect weather for hanging out in the water park. It was pretty crowded in there. I had to hunt to find two chairs together to drop our towels down. We didn't spend much time on the chairs. Victoria is a whirlwind in Dukes Lagoon. She dashes through the various water toys. We did everything today.

Just getting her goggles on and before she started dashing through the water spray.

Dancing in the puddles after one of the buckets spilled in the forts.

Greeting the whale, of course. Can't forget him.

She actually went through the downpour around Duke to get completely soaked. She did a lot that I couldn't get on the little point and shoot I had with me today. I was afraid of getting it wet and ruining it.

She went down the yellow slide and the green slide. She almost went down the red slide this time. She got up to the top and then turned around. It was tough on me to do the slides with her. I can't be in two places at once. So I'd go up the slides and wait in line then hurry down to try to be at the bottom when she got there. I know there's a lifeguard at the bottom but I feel better being close enough to grab her if she starts floundering.

You can also find all the pictures at my Coppermine Gallery. Here's the link to Girls Day Out or http://www.couchcornergraphics.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=7