The Tenth Avenue playground at Belmar.

I bundled them up but there wasn't any wind so they had their jackets off in short order.

We brought a picnic lunch of sandwiches, clam chowder in a thermos, pretzels and cookies.

They played for an hour, ate and played for another hour. We met many nice people, adults and children. Some were there for the week and others were finding their summer rental property.

I need to get my beach badge soon. The pavilion wasn't open.

But Strollo's was!

Kenny got lemon, Chris took cherry and Timmy had vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. The bridge was up when we got there. We watched a tall boat, the Golden Eagle, pass under. It was too cold for italian ice but lots of people were getting it.

I sat with Tim on one side and Chris on the other. Kenny was across the table and started jumping around as the sugar hit. His antics prompted Chris to bounce in his seat. But he was too tired to hold his own and he fell backwards off the backless wire-mesh bench. He scraped his elbow through three layers of clothing.

I popped up like a jack-in-the-box to rescue him and set him back on his perch, laughing all the way at his carelessness. I was keenly aware of the elderly couple seated across the street. They had been watching us and no doubt their thoughts ran from "Oh, what a delightful boy" to "Oh, what a thoughtless mother letting him sit there by himself. Why, he ought to be on her lap or caught up in her arms so nothing evil befalls him." It's enough to make you crazy. So I laughed.

Kenny and Timmy were having an eating contest and Kenny was winning ... until Timmy accidentally knocked over his cup and a good portion fell onto the table.

Instead of crying, Timmy announced with triumph, "Now I'm winning!" That's my kid; always looking on the bright side.