The Beach!!!

One thing I've wanted to do since Brenden started showing an interest in water was take him to the beach. This weekend, Mike and Connie made that a reality, and it was amazing!!!

Somehow we hit the jackpot with two kids that can endure ridiculously long car rides with minimum complaint as long as we stop for bathroom breaks and to eat and let them stretch their legs. (A DVD player in the car helped, too!) We got up at 2 am on Thursday morning (ouch!) and made it to the hotel around 4 pm. Immediately, Brenden started stripping down so he could go swimming. Since it was a vacation and he was so great in the car we decided to all go. It was Lauren's first time in a pool and she had a great time splashing around. Brenden of course had a blast.

Ready to go!

We convinced Brenden to check out the beach and he was not disappointed. Lauren, however, was a little nervous and screamed like crazy when we got her near the water. She did decide that digging in the sand (and eating a little bit...ewww) was great.

Beach baby!

The next few days we alternated between the beach and the pool and even fit in some shopping. We rode on a ferry, had some great food, some awful food and had some great service and some awful service. (A waitress getting onto my child when he's doing nothing wrong? Not okay.)

By the end of our trip Brenden was boogie boarding and learned how to hold his breath and go under the water in the pool. Lauren finally realized that the ocean was lots of fun and scared us all by trying to run into the water on her own over and over. She also ate a lot more sand and watched Tim and Brenden build a sand castle which the kids then destroyed while we cheered.

Brenden's special bed made out of couch cushions on the floor of Mike and Connie's room; Lauren learning how to say milk "ick", purple "pu-pal", cracker "ca-cack", and happy snappy "appy nappy"; finally being able to give Tim his Father's Day present (Ben Folds tickets!); drinking wine on the balcony and listening to the waves; watching the kids play together on the beach.

Fantastic and unforgettable memories that I will always treasure. Again, thank you Mike and Connie. We can't wait to go again!