Oh Boy!

Let’s see, so far, I’ve met 8 new little boys and young teens. This past weekend, our Oldest of “The Littles”  brought 2 or his best buds.

I know that may sound a little weird, but we’ve categorized our 3 sets of grands: The Olders, The Middles and The Littles. Pierce isn’t Little at all anymore, he’s 12 and his brothers, the twins, are 9.

Due to Friendswood’s Homecoming game on Friday night, they didn’t leave home until 8am on Saturday morning. They were here by 10am Saturday morning. We were ready for them, set up on the beach, grabbed boogie boards and a couple of skim boards, cold drinks and off they went.

I had to go to the Cultural Foundation Art Festival, a yearly September outing for me. I got my fill of shopping (not really), but I spent most of the cash I siphoned out of my bank account in anticipation. Double-handed with bags, I left the Arts & Crafts to go meet all the boys at the beach. Before calling anybody to come to get me up at the house, I made 8 or so hot dogs along with a variety of chips to bring for lunch. I’m getting pretty good at the process, I microwave the wieners, toast the buns a bit in the oven, cut adequate sizes of foil to wrap them in and bag them in some thermal tote bags. A bag for condiments and the absolute best bakery cookies from The Big Store.

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun! And Pierce was so excited to show his friends where he grew up – At the Beach! The main fascination of this trip was all the hermit crabs. Hundreds of them of all sizes. They made a Sand Coliseum for the crabs but ended up putting them in Merry’s pink swimming pool with water and sand. They covered a portion of the pool for the crabs to have some shade. I think one of the little guys was surprised that an old Grandma would let the crabs crawl on my hand.

Golf Carting has evolved from only being allowed to drive around the 4 lots around the house to venturing out around the neighborhood, we let them do this by themselves. Pierce wanted to show them the airplane fuselage over at Brint’s Red Barn. Driving on the beach was allowed only with Pierce’s Dad. Yes, Mr. Matthew, as they respectfully called him, always rode in the back seat. The best Dad, he remembers growing up here as well, he knows what it’s all about. Thank goodness we have a few years before they start frequenting Ship’s Wheel. Matthew remembers that very well, He and Brandon challenging locals to games of pool. I remember those times as well; did I get used to it? No, but that’s another story for another time.

Saturday night, we went to Stingaree Down Under, another of Pierce’s favorites. We let the boys sit and eat at their own table, we sat within vision. Every time a tugboat would go down the intracoastal, all three boys would hop up and dart out on the patio to motion to the boat captain to honk their horn.  And they always did!

Back at home, all us adults were exhausted, not the boys though. So I hear the next morning, they watched a movie, played some poker and went on up to the loft to chat until they fell asleep. Couldn’t prove it by me, I fell fast asleep and didn’t hear a peep.

Sunday morning, Dannay’s of course. They brought me an Apple Fritter, my favorite! They tried crabbing over at Mr. Dennis’ place on the canal, no luck. After trying that for a couple of hours, we went back out to the beach. The waves were perfect and the boys had a blast boogie boarding. I’m really pondering finding a used surfboard for them. Pierce’s balance on the skim board is spot on; I’d love to see him having fun on a surfboard. Yes, reliving my childhood, you got it!

Oh, one other incident I forgot to mention, Merry finally got over her fear of the beach water. Don’t get me wrong, this is a water dog, she loves anything to do with water except for the beach. Well, we finally coaxed her to get out there, mainly with help of her cousin, Knight, who was staying with us for the weekend. She’s an “old beach dog” now. Loves it, love to swim. And more importantly, IT WEARS HER OUT!

Anyway, Pierce’s Dad said they had to leave by noon, “why do we have to go,” Pierce asked. Bless his heart, that’s our Beach Boy for sure!

I tell you what, that’s what PawPaw and I live for. That’s one of the most important reasons why we decided to settle down here. We want these guys, our kids and our grands to experience the magic of beach life.

Life’s a Beach!