Our vacation

Well we just got back from the beach this weekend. We had a great time and the kids enjoyed their first visit to the beach. The first thing we did when we got to our destination was ... go to the beach. Nathan looked in the sand for sea shells and the girls headed straight for the water. It was great to experience the beach with them and by the end of the trip they were pros at navigating the water, catching sand crabs, applying suntan lotion, discarding of sand trapped in their bathing suits, etc. We were definitely out of our element our fist couple of days. As traditionally non-beach goers and midwestern folks the week at the beach taught us a lot about what to bring and what not to bring.

Our Buddha bank came with us and provided good Karma for our trip.

Day one:
Non-beach family enters the beach with our beach tent, towels, and fold up chairs. We slowly realized that we were the only ones with this tent and no umbrella or pop-up tent. The tent was really hot since it only opened to one side with windows on the other two. The back was not accessible so the wind did not flow through very well. The folding chairs were also too hot and did not sit well in the sand. Nathan was like a dead fish in the water. When he got knocked down he could not get up so he was stuck in the undercurrent while another wave crashed over him. So we had to stick close to him and resuce him many times.



Nathan testing the water for the first time. He wanted to wear the water shoes so that he would not step on a crab. That was the last time he wore those shoes.




Getting Nathan out of the water.

He was so tired after day one he fell asleep under the table while we were playing Life.

Day two:
Set up our breach equipment early because we learned form day one that people stake out their spots early. On day one we were father back and could not see the kids playing in the water from the tent. Traded our tent for our borrowed One Step Ahead tent with an open back. Much more comfortable but still we were the only ones with a tent like this. Went out and purchased a cheap beach chair. D, who is not large a large man, sat in the chair and the chair collapsed after 10 minutes. Darn cheap chair. The kids took our pre-purchased beach toys to play in the beach. Julianne takes the large plastic shovel and digs into the sand. Pulls the sand up and the plastic shovel bends and breaks under the weight of the sand. Yikes. Another bad purchase. We notice that everyone else had wood handled shovels that did not break.

Day three:
We purchased two better quality beach chairs and a boogie board. The boogie board was a blast. D and I loved riding waves on it. We had several good runs and lots of good wipeouts. D suffered sand burn on his back as a result of catching a rather large wave at the wrong time.

Our stake in the beach by day three. Good spot.




Nathan always getting food.


Day 5: We purchased more fun water toys like paddle ball, a ball that skips on water and a football. The kids enjoyed those as well as daddy and mommy.


Nathan's great throwing form and his bony ribs.

By day 5 we finally got Lindsay to take a nap on the beach. She was not a fan of the windy noisy days but did take a few naps in her little One Step Ahead bed and in the front pack with D.

Our last night we took the kids out for a walk on the beach and reminisced about our trip.



Goodbye beach...until next time.


The last night the kids wanted to sleep together because it was a special night.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-taking a great vacation with the family
-not getting into any car troubles/issue on our way there and back
-seeing the kids enjoy the beach for the first time.
-have a great husband who can drive long distances at a time and will hold Lindsay in the front pack on the beach.