THE ROCKAWAYS.

Summer is quickly winding down, and Chelsea kept reminding me that daddy hasn't gone to the beach with us all summer. These months are too precious to waste, including quality time with our children, and even though I feel like I'm doing my part as a mother to spend time with my teen, almost tween, and five year old  (including conversing with my 20 year old long distance!) I know that with my husband, we can do more. And family time is the best!

With Jon working half a day on Saturdays it's pretty impossible to be able to put a full day in at the beach, but this past weekend I didn't care. Once I got home from running a few errands I walked into the house grabbed his swim trunks, and with a stern voice said, "I know we have bills, and that your work so hard so that we can have what we need, but you really need to find time to spend time with these kids. So can you please get dressed because we are going to the beach." After a long sigh he hesitated and said, "what the heck, let's go."As much as i appreciate my hard working husband I just had to put my foot down. Making money is good and all, but family time is more important, and I don't ever want to lose sight of that!

The kids were excited, and we decided to head out to Rockaway beach. I absolute love this area in new york. The sand feels like powder, and as soon as you approach the water the waves immediately cover your torso, and instead of jumping on the waves, they jump on you! I'm grateful that Jon finally came so that he can go knee deep in water with the kiddos. For some reason Noah trusts him more than me when we go in the water. Probably because he heard that "daddy is a better swimmer than mommy."

While the kids were in the water with papa I read a few chapters of this book, and so far it's pretty good! After a while I stood up, and because I forgot to bring my bottoms was only able to get my feet wet, and snapchatted a few moments with the kiddos which you can see here, at r_jorgensen. That's my user name in case you were wondering. ;-)

Before we knew it, it was 7pm, and the lifeguards began calling everyone to get out of the water. Not sure what the rules are here compared to jersey beaches, or if there is a "swim at your own risk" sign, but it was getting late, and so we sat down, and dried off for a bit. Noah laid on the blanket with his binoculars, and saw so many dragonflies, and shrimp flies flying around. He even saw a helicopter too! 

We decided to see if we can find that fish taco stand that I hear every new york blogger ranting about, but to no avail. Apparently they haven't been open all year, so hopefully they'll be open next year summer so we can try them out. 

We did, however explore the rockaways just a little. We drove around, and found so many cool places in the corners of hidden pockets between 98th street, and 117th. The place we wanted to eat at was closed which gives us another reason to come back, and so before we headed out back into the city I decided to get down, walk around with the kiddos, and snap a few photos. 

Just a few, because, you know...we were about two hours away from home, needed to grab a bite, and be on our way!  

Told ya! I only captured like two photos, but snapchatted the whole time at the beach. The sun had gone down, and I was surprised that my iPhone even captured these photos without the flash, and that they came out pretty nice, but in order for us to capture more memories, and explore more shops at Rockaway beach before they close here is to leave early in the morning when the roosters are up! 

Happy Monday, and enjoy the rest of summer! 

Rockaway Beach

Even though I'm not a true new yorker, a brooklynite, or a born and bred "jersey girl" I really feel as if I'm beginning to feel like a true "east coaster" and have become extremely comfortable around my surroundings. My family and I have developed such a strong love for New York for the mere fact that this state has gone through so much heartache throughout the years. From the World Trade Center bombing in '93, to the 9/11attacks in the year 2001, and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy that occurred at one of New Yorks most popular beaches...Rockaway Beach.

I had never been here and have always wanted to check it out, and if I had the time to help the community of Long Island by cleaning up the mess that Sandy left behind I would have, but Sandy also left a huge mess to clean up in South Jersey. 

It felt surreal being at this beach. I never had the opportunity to go before Sandy destroyed it, and it would have been interesting to see how the boardwalk looked like before Sandy took it apart. Luckily our friend google provided us with a ton of pics to peek at to see how it once looked like before. 

This winter has been a little rough in our neck of the woods, and because of it we have been going through major beach withdrawal. Since the weather was gloriously beautifully this past Saturday we decided to go to the beach, and all that was needed was a hoodie. 

We are so fortunate to live in an area where we are an hour away to south and north jersey beaches. We have always gone to Ocean City or Spring Lake, but we heard Rockaway Beach calling our name. 

There were a few people, but not as many as we thought. I could see that they are still trying to rebuild. This area suffered more, and the destruction was brutal. 

I was amazed at how big the parking lot was. Then again I can see why they have such a big parking lot to accommodate millions of people that live in the new york area! Apparently it was filled up with mountains of trash while cleaning up after the storm. Here is a photo from my friend google, and my oh my I can't believe all the debris... it literally looks like the trash in the movie Wall-e. 

^^^ can't believe this is the Jacob Riis parking lot where we were at
Picture via google. ^^^

The kids had a blast and as soon as we got out of the car Noah & Chelsea ran straight to the playground to release some much needed energy form the 75 minute car ride!

^^^ apparently water comes out of the holes not the rings. Perfect for the kids on a hot summer day. ^^^

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They didn't last too long as they wanted to dig for sea shells, and we all just enjoyed walking down the beach and having fun as a family. Captured this moment when everyone is running away from the tide.

^^^ amazed at all the baby swings they have! ^^^

This day was so much fun, and these kids are looking forward to going to the beach more this summer. 

*****

As I was deleting some of the photos on my iPhone I decided to keep this one. It's dark, blurry and grainy but it truly is one my favorites. It reminds me of the good times I had when my mother used to take my sister and I to the park until it way past our bedtime! Swinging in the swings and catching fireflies in between. Running around from the merry go round to the monkey bars & back to the swings. Because that was our favorite thing to do when it was just the three of us. 

Seeing my family as a whole swinging away warmed my heart...too bad I couldn't get in the photo with them!

It was an old school kind of day, and it is going to be documented as one of my most memorable moments in this blog's history.