the beach

the beach trip was an overall success!

on the way down & back, we only stopped twice (each): i fed carly in the car while nathan and caleb went in to eat. caleb played on the playground until i got in with carly, handed her off to nathan and then i ate. when i was done, diapers were changed and we hit the road again. we ate at mcdonalds every stop, but they were the only ones with a playground - good idea, mcdonalds! caleb watched movies in the car and carly slept pretty well. we only had a few crying sessions longer than 10 minutes or so - good traveling kids!

the worst part of the trip was that caleb did NOT want to go to the beach. we tried to bribe and convince him for a while, and then i just made him go. i decided that we did not drive all the way to the beach for him to sit in the house and watch movies all day - we were going to the beach! he enjoyed digging in the sand when he got out there, but never wanted to go. we got some spill-proof bubbles at wal-mart and got him to the beach with those (once) by telling him that those bubbles were only for the beach. we got him out at night a couple times with glow sticks. and nathan got him in the water once by carrying him to look at the fish. every time he got out there he had a good time, but it was the getting out there that was so hard! he also liked to chase sand crabs and throw sand at them, as well as fill their holes with sand. he liked to build "sand castles" (one bucket full of sand) and then squash it - whatever, it got him outside.

carly was not a huge fan of the beach either, but by the time she got done eating and we got everybody sunscreened and dressed and down to the beach, it was almost time for her to nap again. we had a tent for her on the beach, but i think she would have liked it better if she could sit up in it. she did fall asleep twice out at the beach, which was nice - i got to hold her while she slept and that doesn't happen much! but how cute is she in the halter top bathing suit?

there were a lot of jellyfish the first few days... and here's what my dad saw from our porch... first - you've heard that peeing on a jellyfish sting will make it feel better right? well there were a group of young adults next to us and one of them peed on another one's back, while the rest of the group laughed at them - guess they were good friends.

nathan and i got some naps and rest, plus my dad and his girlfriend and her daughter were there so we had some extra hands and eyes, which made life a lot easier. so thanks to my dad and sheila's invite, we had a great vacation. this trip also encouraged us that we can do things with 2 kids (and a lot of baby equipment), and the older they get the more restfull and vacationish a vacation will be!