Water babies

Our trip to the beach was nothing like last years trip. We had a GREAT time! The weather was fantastic, everyone was in good health (minus me and this cold I can't seem to shake) and we all had so much fun. No one wanted to leave! This year instead of renting a private condo, we decided to go with a resort that had suites. We had far less living space in our suite which felt a lot like a 500 sq. ft. sardine can with all 5 of us, but the amenities were awesome and totally made up for the lack of living space (that we barely used since we were outdoors most of the time anyway) This resort had breakfast every morning, had 3 pools, 3 spas a lazy river and a toddler splash pool and it was right on the beach!! We didn't end up spending much time at the beach because we've learned that babies and sand don't necessarily mix. That and Eleanor was a crazy napper the whole time we were there.....she slept like 5 hours a day, and with someone having to be in the room while she napped it left only one adult to look after the other two girls. Maddie loves the ocean, Charlotte does not. How do you split one adult to keep both kids happy at the beach?!? You don't. Instead you go to the pool a lot, which both kids loved!! But Maddie got some good time swimming in the ocean and we played in the sand one morning and looked at the sea from our ocean front room. Someday our kids will be older and they will want to spend all day every day playing in the waves, but until then chlorinated water is a lot of fun.

It was amazing to watch how comfortable and confidant both Maddie and Charlotte got in the water during our time at the beach. At first Charlotte would not let go of my hands while in the pool, even with a floatie on. By the second day she was cruising all over the place by herself (always supervised) and didn't mind getting her face wet. Maddie went from using a floatie and staying on top of the water to ditching the floatie, jumping into the deep end and swimming under water. I don't trust her skills at swimming enough to leave her unattended, but she is getting really good at getting where she wants to go under the water. We really need to get her in swim lessons! For the first time this year we bought Maddie a coast guard approved life vest. It is so incredibly worth the money we spent! She did have time without the vest while we were in the water with her and were actively involved in her swimming, but most of the time she wore the vest....especially in the ocean. It gave us a little peace of mind when she was hopping from pool to pool and not right under our nose. She enjoyed the freedom that having the vest gave her and Dan and I felt better knowing that she had some support if she needed it. Plus, inflatable floaties aren't allowed at our city pools or state beaches, so the vest is really necessary!

Both girls made some friends at the pool and had a lot of fun seeing them every day and playing. We learned (and I guess we already knew this) that a family vacation is not very relaxing when you have young kids. The first morning they were up at 6:00 am. Our lives revolved around nap schedules and feeding schedules and bedtimes. And I find it incredible that we went to the beach and I came home almost as white as before we left! But alone time and sunbathing and sleeping in isn't why we went on vacation.....we wanted to have time away from everyday life with our kids and to have FUN and that is exactly what we got! It's so awesome watching my family grow!

Below are pictures from the beach and the pool. I didn't get a lot of opportunities to take pictures although I did manage to get nearly 600 shots! We were just so busy and much of our time was spent submerged in water, but I think I took enough photos to help us remember the fun we had. Not all of these pics were from the same day, but we wore the same bathing suits a lot. Pictures from the carnival to come.....stay tuned!

Maddie specifically asked me to take a picture of her sand.
So, here it is. Sand.

We had a beach tent. Eleanor liked it!

Some sand was consumed.

Our view to the left from the 16th floor

Lazy river. 70% of our time was spent here.

Seashells

There was a floatie rolling down the beach
at high speeds incident.
With Dan, Charlotte and Maddie chasing after it.
I wish I had gotten it on film.
This is their triumphant return!

16th floor view to the right

Eleanor's maiden voyage with sand

A big hole