Over a month ago, we took our annual pre-summer trip to our beach house! This time, though, instead of having Mimi and Poppy (my parents) tag along, we invited some friends to join us. Our kid to adult ratio was 1:1. We had four adults, three active toddlers, and one new baby! It was loud and chaotic and crazy and silly and stressful but also so, so, SO fun! We really enjoyed having friends with us and both of my kids LOVED having their buddy Levi to play with. Next time baby Reed will be able to play with them too!
I have finally gone through and whittled down my pictures, but I still have over 100 to go through! I think for this update, instead of trying to chronological, I'm just going to group the pictures into categories. And since it was a beach vacation, might as well start with pictures from the actual beach!
ON THE SANDY BEACH
The beach was so fun this year. We had perfect weather every time we went down; it was warm, but not too hot and the sun was out but it wasn't blaring bright. And there was a nice breeze off the water! I was amazed at how brave Katie Wynn was in the water - especially compared to years past! As you can see in the pictures below, she would stand out in it all by herself. Huge improvement from us having to hold her to barely go in the water! Thomas and I went head-to-head over his hat. I'd put it on and he'd yank it off, all day long. He loved filling up his shovel with sand and dumping it on me, my towel, and my beach chair. It was slightly annoying but it kept him occupied! Other highlights included finding a crab, catching small fish in the nets, smashing sand castles, and Katie Wynn tee-tee-ing all over Matt. :) (He was carrying her out into the water so she could go but she couldn't hold it long enough for them to get to deep waters!)
My kiddos loved crowding Mrs. Laura when Reed was awake so they could watch her.
It's a good thing the kids were willing to pull their weight since we hauled so much stuff down to the beach!
IN THE CRYSTAL CLEAR POOL WATER
The kids were lucky enough to get to swim in THREE different pools - the one at the hotel we stopped at midway, the tiny one at our beach house, and the big community pool just down the street!
Not top? No problem. (Someone wanted to be like the boys.)
Cutest picture ever of these two buddies! Photo credit goes to Mrs. Laura.
Thomas is a pro at vacationing.
The next Charlie's Angel.
Laura brought squirt guns and since they couldn't be pointed at people, the kids watered the plants with them! :)
AT THE SPLASH PAD AND GRASSY LAWN
One night we rented bike trailers and rode over to the splash pad. Next to the splash pad is a big grassy lawn that they kids loved running around on. And the parents loved that they wore themselves out!
Pretending to be big bikers!
AROUND THE COZY BEACH HOUSE
Some of the most fun was had when we were just hanging around the house. My kids loved that Levi and his family were there every morning and even all night! They were sad when we returned home and Levi's family didn't "live" with us anymore. One of our favorite places to hang out was on the upstairs balcony, but lots of time was also logged on the king-sized bed watching cartoons!
Matching outfits for the win!
When you have an outdoor shower, you might as well use it!
Mrs. Laura had LOTS of helpers for bathing Reed.
Post shower snuggle bunnies!
Levi says, "You can let me play in the sun all day, and you can give me a warm shower, and you can wrap me up tight and lay me on a big comfy bed, but you can't make me nap!" :)
OUT AND ABOUT IN THE QUAINT LITTLE TOWN
We were brave enough to venture out with all the kiddos a couple of times! We had donuts early in the morning, seafood at a restaurant, and danced in the town circle to live music.
Drinking the sweet milk from the bowl!
Early breakfast at the hotel before arriving at the beach.
We went to a casual church service - Thomas cried through it - and then to the local Farmer's Market afterwards. We had a yummy crepe for a morning snack!
On our drive back to reality, we made the obligatory stop at Durbin's for lunch and the best homemade ice cream!
On the last leg of the trip, when we were all getting a little restless, I glanced back into the backseat to check on the kids and did a double take...Thomas was standing up in his carseat!
Please note that all the buckles are still fastened and yes, his chest clip was pushed up. We have quite the Houdini on our hands!
It goes without saying that we are already itching to go back to the beach. And everyone else's vacation pics are just making the itch stronger! We had such a good time and can't wait to do it again. :)