We have a tradition in my house. It is called the Memory Jar. Inside of the clear Bormioli jar are thin slips of white computer paper. Every time something happens in our family that we want to remember we write it down and throw it in the jar. Every New Year’s Eve, my husband and I sit down together after the kids have gone to bed and we take turns reading them out loud.
My parents live in the Florida panhandle and we try and visit them at least once a year. Although we also live fairly close to the beach up here in New Hampshire, the beaches are vastly different! For starters the water is way warmer in Florida than it is up here in New England. Secondly, there are far less rocks and soft fluffy white sand down south.

One day in January while visiting my parents Ben, our son, and I decided we would go walk the beach while the baby was napping. It was a perfect afternoon. The temps were mild, to Floridians 65 degrees is cold, but to us it was glorious! We were in sweatshirts and shorts, no shoes, and not a care in the world. As we were walking down the beach James discovered that if he chased the seagulls they would fly away. That was as good as a ticket to Disney World for this kid! He was laughing, running, and having a blast!
My husband and I were enjoying watching him run ahead and were deep in conversation. All of a sudden I saw him take a sharp right straight for the water. WHY?! I don’t remember there being any birds in that direction. I honestly have no idea why he decided to run straight into the water! Ben and I were a bit concerned because he was quite a ways ahead of us. Then my son tripped. He went face first right into the water. We started running towards him. He stood up and was completely soaked. I didn’t bring any extra clothes with me (mom fail) so we had to leave.
Good thing that water was much warmer than it is back home! Never a boring moment with these kids!
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