It’s hard to beat a weekend at the beach, even if it’s windy and partly gloomy outside. We took a fabulous trip down to Amelia this past weekend. Russ’s parents have spent the past month down there relaxing and tinkering around.  Russ’s dad is absolutely masterful at the art of tinkering. He’s rigged up a way to keep our bikes from toppling over in the closet, he’s hung various things in various places, he’s fixed random holes in random walls, and he’s gone toe-to-toe in a serious battle against a nest of carpenter ants. Russ’s parents are on a first-name basis with the dudes at the hardware store and have even visited a machinery shop to have–are you ready for this?–a pull on a drawer re-threaded (Russ’s response? “I’d have just bought a new chest of drawers.”). Grandpa’s a rock-star of a fix-it-up man. He puts your run-of-the-mill handyman to shame.

It was nice to spend time with them both, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed walking the beach with them and helping Grandpa search for lost golf balls in the dunes, which he enjoys doing when he’s not fixing up stuff.

You got something you think needs fixin’? This cat can handle it…

The beach in late February can give you a solid taste of the upcoming Spring when the weather cooperates, which it did in a spectacular way on Sunday. It was over 80 degrees when we moseyed on out to the beach after a lunch outing downtown.

The water, of course, was still way too cold for anyone–except Tucker, that is.

Cold? What’s that?

And this old brown/gray guy?

…still loves him some beach time but still does not like wet, salty tennis balls. Both Henry and Buck hover around me all day at the beach, begging to go for a walk down to the sand and the ocean.

The downtown area is still great fun and our usual go-to restaurant still has shoddy service but good food.  And the giant fake shark is still hanging on the dock, waiting for children to mess with him.

Spring is on its way. Basketball is done…

…which means baseball has started up. Even on 50 degree days, both boys are thrilled to be on the ballfield. I love catching them playing toss in the yard (or cul-de-sac, as the case may be…).

February has given us our 9th anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Russ’s birthday and–almost–my birthday.

these are the coolest paintings the boys did with our dear friend Emily (L-R: Jack’s, Tuck’s, Theo’s)…

We’ve built more train tracks this month than Sir Topham Hatt could fathom.  Cold, rainy, windy weather that locks you indoors will do that to a family. We’ve even managed to combine marble tracks with train tracks–Jack and Theo call them “cargo loaders.” Their creativity makes me smile.

Theo’s latest obsession is organizing his trains:  by size or color or engine type or tinders or numbers of wheels…his categories are endless.

The rest of this week features some great beginnings:  the start of Lent and the start of another trip around the sun for me, both of which I view to be pretty doggone fantastic.

Make your week count, too.