The Beach 2013

We made it back from the beach! With all the kids!

It was definitely a successful trip.  We have now stayed in the same condo on the same beach on the same week for the past three years and we've loved it every time.  This was the first year I was really hankering to stay one more day though.

It was a great time.  After many, many warnings that there were no fits or crying allowed at the "beach house," as the kids call it, for the days leading up to our departure, Max really held himself together.  When a fit was coming on, all I had to do was give him the simple reminder that they were not allowed, and he would compose himself.  Now if only that would work at home.

We did our usual one day into Galveston, only this time we rode the free ferry from Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula.

One of my all time favorite moments, even though it was at the expense of my son, was when we stood in line to board and the ferry's air horn sounded, causing Max to become so scared and distressed that he stuck his head in this bag and bawled for a good 3 minutes.

He could not be comforted so the only thing left to do was take a picture through my laughter.

The ferry was fun (and free!) and pleasant if you stayed out of the sun or better yet rode inside in the air conditioning.

We saw lots of dolphins which was really neat too.

After the ferry it was time for La King's for milkshakes and candy.

As we have learned, our very favorite time to hit the beach is the evening.  We don't have to worry about sunscreen, the never crowded beach is even less so, and the light and sunsets are amazing.

The kids were so happy to play in the waves and they are so lucky that their daddy is just a big kid himself.

They will have the best memories of him making up his silly games and chasing them. 

In fact, they played so hard, even the big kids took naps! 

Finn never made it in the water, I didn't do more than dangle his feet in the ocean a couple of times.

I got in myself a time or two, but this was not my season for laying in the surf or building sandcastles, I guess.

As long as Finn was tummy to tummy, skin to skin, heart to heart, or mouth to boob, he was all set.

And with a baby this pleasing to look at, it wasn't a bad gig to sit on the beach, in a chair, and snuggle him.

Although, admittedly, after 3 days of near constant contact I was ready for a little break.



We tried out the pool at the beach club this time and it was a winner! We'll go back for sure.

Our beloved Prince's came down for an evening and we got to meet baby Jack,

And it was an unexpected surprise to catch Mr. August for the Dan Calendar,

The only downers to our trip were the man who went missing in the ocean, for whom helicopters searched for days, and poor little Luke who got stung by a jellyfish on our last frolic in the ocean.

After a little online research, applying shaving cream and scraping it off with a credit card worked wonders and by the next day, it looked nearly perfect.

We love the beach! We look forward to this trip every year! We love our condo! We love that there's plenty of space for Mom and Dad to come along, that we have the ability to cook our own food.  And we have now come to expect that at some point during our stay, the downstairs neighbor will knock on our door and kindly ask that we try to keep the kids from running and jumping and banging on their ceiling.  And I have come to accept that I will continue to ask and remind and warn, but that their little bodies will never quite get over the excitement of being there and will continue to bounce and run.

I can't say that I blame them.  This is one family tradition I hope will never die.