Beach fun

I cannot believe our vacation is over and it's back to work for me!!! Billy has one more week off....lucky dog.

We had a wonderful week at the beach. Don't get me wrong, there were days full of not eating, not listening, temper tantrums, crying "I want to go home!" (Olivia, not me), crying because we can't stay at the beach or pool, hitting (Addie), biting (also Addie), a few thunderstorms, and yelling (me) because it seemed like repeating myself 1000 times didn't work.....but, there was also wonderful times of playing in the sand, walking along the edge of the water or sitting at the edge of the sand letting the water get our toes while we listened to the waves crashing, lots of sandcastles built and quickly squashed by Addison, ice cream....lots of ice cream, silly goggle wearing, mini golf, squealing when surprised by the cool water on the back of our legs (mostly Liv but me too), sand on every part of our bodies no mater how much we washed off, and me getting knocked down by the big wave that also stole my sun glasses and baseball cap.

Olivia and Bill were able to go for a kayak ride. Addie was terrified at the site of the kayak but was glad to hear that we only had one adult life jacket so she and I couldn't go with them. Olivia was terrified of the ocean at first but by Tuesday was having fun at the edge of the water letting the water come up and over her toes. She even sat down in the water a few times. She was still apprehensive but enjoyed playing at the edge of the water. Once, a wave snuck up behind her and I swear if I didn't grab her arm it may have taken her away. Olivia also loved the pool. As long as she had her goggles on, she could swim like a fish (with her life jacket on) and was also less afraid of the water at the ocean. Go figure.

Addie wasn't having any part of the water -- not the ocean, not the pool, she wasn't even thrilled about a different bath tub. We did dip her toes in the ocean....which she really didn't enjoy too much but I did. We also had her in the pool trying to get her more comfortable in the water (what happened to the fun swimming lessons she took??). She relaxed a little but still kept a tight grip on me or Bill with one hand. (Time to sign her up for more swimming lessons!)

Despite the frustrations of the week and the occasional crying and mean girls, it was great, in a way, to hear Olivia say she didn't want to go home when it was time to finally get in the car and go. It was great that we were able to relax and spend time with Jennifer, Troy, Gabrielle, Danielle, Mrs. Green, and Aleyah. (Great vacation suggestion Jen!!!!) We hope to be able to do it again next year!

Here are some of our favorite pictures............