beach day 4

On Thursday it was overcast again so we dressed the kids alike (on accident), packed them up, and headed to the outlets. As a treat Caleigh and Andrew got to ride the mini carousel and Caleigh loved it.

And Andrew didn't really know what to think. And by lunchtime it had cleared up. So (as we did pretty much every day) - we ate lunch and put the kids down for naps... then I went to the pool to lay out and read for 1.5 to 2 ish hours (every day! it was awesome! and now I am tan!) while Adam worked on the computer (boo work) and the kids slept. When they got up around 4 we headed to the beach again and miraculously after a lot of encouraging Caleigh got over her fear of the water and she wanted to 'fly' in the waves (meaning we hold her arms and swing her through them) and she kept going a little deeper that I was comfortable with but I loved it that she was having fun. And I captured this shot of Adam working on a sand castle with Andrew... I hope it is the first of many shots of my guys working/playing together over the years to come. And I finally got a picture of this little peanut - she was a busy girl on the beach. I love the beach around 5 or 5:30 pm - it isn't as hot and the aren't many people out there and it is awesome to sit in your little beach chairs and have your kids pour sand on your legs and cover your feet while you drink a beer. And it is equally awesome to watch you sweet munchkins chase the birds on the beach. And I wish I had a shot of Andrew bear-crawling his way after Caleigh to do whatever she was doing. Caleigh was pretty obsessed with sitting in holes while we were there so we would dig her a hole and she would sit in it and play for quite some time. This time we covered her feet with her 'sand silky' and made her a pillow too and she felt so at home she figured she would suck her thumb and rest. What fun! And it really was fun every day we were at the beach but that doesn't mean it wasn't a huge hassle getting everybody in swimsuits, putting on sunscreen (especially when you almost 1 year old wiggling machine isn't a fan), loading up the car (yes, boo, we had to drive to the beach), getting out of the car, carrying all the stuff down to the sand, setting up the tent and the chairs, and finally sitting down. Only in a couple of hours to pack everything and everyone up, walk up to the shower, rinse off all sand toys and beach chairs, rinse off kids who don't like the cold water soaking them, put said kids in car (wet and grouchy and cold), rinse off grown-ups, drive back home, unload kids, bathe kids, cook meal, etc. So it was so fun and by the end the routine of getting to the beach and getting back didn't seem as hard as it did the first day (as in, by that time, we knew it was worth the work). But it was exhausting... so by the time the kids hit the sack we were ready for some real R&R (including but not limited to lots of dessert, beer/wine, and movies).