The Beach & Grilled Pizza

In case you haven't figured it out yet, two of my most favorite things in life are my son and great food.  Lucky for me, I scored on both of these this week, starting with a morning at the beach!

We were joined by a good friend from college, who we had a great time catching up with.  I find it very refreshing to get together with old friends who love and encourage us in the life we've created but also loved and knew us in the carefree lives we all used to share.  Ahh college....anyway, back to present day:) 

It felt like this was the first time Baby B actually played at the beach!  He had fun splashing in the water in his bucket and digging in the sand with his shovel.  He did not enjoy discovering that hot sand can really hurt your feet, nor did he quite know what to do but stand there and cry.  Hopefully he will learn quickly that if something is burning, move away from it!  He was pretty skeptical of the water for awhile, but after we figured out how to make it a game and he warmed up he was all smiles.

Here comes a wave...

Jump and splash into the water!!

Hopefully this is just the first of many fun beach outings for our little guy...

And last night our pizza-loving palate was reborn when we had grilled pizza for dinner!  Wow, I may never cook pizza in the oven again, even in January when I wouldn't mind having a 450 degree oven on in my house.  I followed the directions from Simply Recipe and it turned out awesome.  The author is completely right that the grill adds a smokiness to the pizza that really enhances the flavor.  I also was able to finally get a somewhat crispy crust, which is my favorite kind and which I can never ever get in the oven.  If you like making homemade pizza this is no harder than cooking it inside but has a much tastier outcome.  And if you've never made homemade pizza before, what are you waiting for?!  Go buy a pre-made fresh pizza crust for 99 cents from Trader Joe's then layer with your favorite toppings.  If your kids or hubby are anything like mine, they will gobble it up:)  And then lament the next day that you didn't make more for lunch leftovers.  Maybe next week boys, we have plenty of hot days in front of us in which I will be more than happy to leave the oven off!