My kids are fish! Or at least they became fish last week at the beach. We lived at the beach. Lots of swimming, wave jumping, floating, boogie boarding, body surfing...you name it. Even Dylan. He loved the tide pools and when there was calmer water trapped at the sand bar when the tide was going out. He enjoyed swimming with one of us too in the waves and "jumping" waves. It was so much fun. Kids wore Gammie out too. Her healing ankle got quite the workout throughout the week. Before...
After...
We were are to get some cute poses from Nora during the week. She can be such a girl!! Posing princess! Dylan and Papa were quite the pair for the week. They played in the sand a lot together and had a blast. Dylan and Papa walked the beach too. Dylan is a wanderer. Pete calls him the beagle - always trying to run away. Fun.
Beach Bum and Papa!
In the middle of the week, Dylan and I had been playing in the sand and he got up and started down the beach, walking the edge. I regret not having a camera but sometime, life just happens. Not far down the beach, maybe 100 yards, there is a launch area for banana boat rides and para sailing. Dylan had watching the "boaas" (boats) all week. That along with the advertising planes ("panes"). So, we walked. He was pretty much on a mission. He walked right down the beach, up to a beached banana boat in the sand and climbed up. I laughed out loud. He climbed all over it. When we didn't go anywhere, he climbed down and walked over to a jet ski - "boaa". He walked around it and held his hand. He seemed to know not to climb up. We really didn't talk, I was just watching him observe. So, he started walking toward the ocean when he saw the jet boat approaching the beach but changed his mind when a wave washed over his feet. We then headed up the beach towards the sand. I quickly realized he had spotted the spare jet ski parked in the sand on a trailer. He walked right up to it - paused - puts his hands up in the air and threw them down. [Ah man...I was gonna ride that one.]. So, he appeared to be headed towards repeating the process but I scooped him up. He wasn't a big fan to give him on a "wide" (ride) but he enjoyed my hip ride on the way back. I was pretty dizzy by the time we made it back. What a walk...
I love this picture of Dylan and I (thank you Daddy). We had such a nice time sitting in the shallow water. Dylan held his purple spade shovel for the entire time. He crawled all over me and in the water. We had a really nice time. I just wish there weren't any sand fleas (later...).
Gavin spent three days doing little else than boogie boarding. It was awesome. Papa and Daddy ran themselves ragged take him out and keeping him safe. He had a BLAST! The video is pretty cool. The first part is tough to see Gavin and Daddy out past the break but he quickly flies up through the waves. The little bugger managed to make it to very shallow water nearly every time he flew through the waves. He was the perfect size for the waves, the board, everything. He could really pull the board around. Awesome. It came with a few scares though. He got rolled a couple times. One resulted in some sand burn and another some rope burn (tether). All and all he took it and kept on going...
We followed beach time up with some pool time: a pre-rinse at the the pool entrance with a hose and shower and then the pool (aka further sand removal), then early baths (aka final sand removal) and dinner. Pool time was real fun. They had a lazy river with the outdoor pool (it is actually inside the building but open air (ceiling above you). That pool was COLD!! Then there was an indoor pool (too much chlorine), a hot tub (yah!) and a kiddie pool which was the size of a hot tub, with a foot of water. It was fun. Gavin was swimming underwater with goggles, Nora floated, dove, played, everything and Dylan was everywhere. At the end of the week he wore water wings in there and was floating on his own. It was a way cool. He also enjoyed jumping into the pool or doing butt-slammers in the kiddie pool. he is funny. We would count: one-two-three-jump and he would bend his knees, pause and then walk at you while he said, "bump"!
Nora skipped dinner on Sunday night. She fell asleep at ~6:00 pm and we could not wake her. She got up the next morning at 7:00 am. She wore herself out the first day. She is also giving up her nap which she is ready, but not. She'll be four in October so, OK. But really, she could use a break in the afternoon. We succeeded two days for a nap for her - not bad and everyone was happier. Kids were exhausted all week. Makes for an easy bedtime it they fall asleep at will wherever they were around 7:00 pm. Pretty tough to move Gavin these days though - 52 lb five year old! Nora and Dylan aren't that much smaller. Nora is probably 43 or 44 lbs and Dylan is about 30 lbs.The kids shared a room and we were a little worried about that. Gavin and Nora have shared when we travel, even a bed so the new addition was Dylan in the same room. I'm not sure he could have woke them if he tried. There were two double beds for the big kids and then we rented a crib for Dylan (best idea and worth every dime). [I did this previously for Gavin in FL. Two great websites: Baby Equipment rentals and Baby's Away. They rent other stuff too - baby gear, strollers, highchairs, etc. Plus the ones in resort areas rent beach stuff. Most of it is a good deal and great way to manage gear, vacation and kids.] We were able to put the crib between the two doubles and have enough room to move around. It was awesome. Normal monitor type stuff for me. Quiet for my parents and us too. WOOHOO! Bottom, line, schedule never goes away with kids. That is OK, even on vacation as long as you respect it. We had an awesome time while they were awake and made the most of our time. I wish someone would tell that to the kids we saw at Wal-Mart or Kroger grocery at 9:00 pm in the evening. I heard a grandfather type say to a ~2 year old..."Some body's pretty tired..." - um yeah. 
Travel means being away from our good friends. Gavin was missing Jack and Nathan (preschool buddies) all week. He told me that he was excited to be on vacation but told me a few times that he was looking forward to going back to school. Being away can be a golden opportunity. It always turns out that there are better connections for some rather than others. Nora found friends (girls) throughout the week. Gavin was busy for the most part Tuesday through Thursday being boogie board king so that was OK. With rougher water later in the week, Gavin was a little bored. He ended up meeting up with one of Nora's friends (Lily) big brother - Jackson. Jackson was almost 8 but they were a pair. Fast friends. They played in the water, wandered the beach and had a pretty good time together. Sometimes a little challenging - older boy with a few more freedoms plus parents that were very unconcerned as to the whereabouts of their children throughout the week. I guess someone else was suppose to watch them, feed them. Whatever. Some people are weird. 
Friday, we were able to play on the beach in the morning before rain. We had interacted with this family throughout the week and with an earlier in the day low tide we had some nice water playtime in the tide pools. The kids were having a blast together.
