Summer Beach Vacation: Take One

Last week our family headed east to Topsail Beach for the week with Mike's family.  We rented a house with his parents and his sister, her husband, and her son (who is only 2 weeks younger than Addy).  It was a fun, albeit slightly chaotic, time had by all.  I'll tell you what: vacationing with young children is no joke.  And vacationing with young children while eight months pregnant is really no joke.  Add in the nasty head cold that I had while we were there and (as Mike so nicely worded it), I was incompatible with life for a little while. ;)

But as the week wore on, the cold started going away and we all settled into our little beach week routine.  Of course it must be mentioned that Mike then caught that nasty bug, and he was feeling pretty crummy for awhile too.  Miraculously no one else in the house got it, despite us all being together in close quarters for a week.  Thank goodness!

Anyway, onto more fun topics.  Like the beach :)

Throwing the ball with Pap

 

Viewing the ocean from afar in the safety of Grandma's arms

 

Playing in the sandcastle that Grandma made :)

 

Here is where Addy preferred to be: under the umbrella.

 

I'll be honest.  Our little lady was not a fan of the beach.  We would go through all the work to get her ready to go down there, and tote along all of the junk that you have to bring for little kids, and then she'd last for maybe an hour before she was over it.  Some days not even that long.  I told her she better change her tune, and quick, because you cannot be a part of this family and not love the beach.  Period.  ;)

 

But she hated to be sandy, and every time she got sand on her hands she inevitably rubbed her eyes.  Not to mention that she usually ended up with sunscreen in her eyes at some point as well.  She was fairly content to sit in her little beach chair for awhile, but don't you dare try to take her near the "O-sh" as she called the ocean.  I have never seen anything like it.  She literally started hyperventilating every time we brought her down to the ocean.  Even being held, she wanted no parts of it.  She would point back to the blanket frantically saying "Walk. Back. Walk. Back."  It was pitiful.  I know that it's just her age, and of course the ocean is a loud, intimidating thing to a child that age.  I have visions of Addy a few years from now running and splashing in the waves having the time of her life.  Right Addy?  You WILL become a beach bum like the rest of us.  Got it??

 

Now, Luca on the other hand, LOVED the beach and the ocean.  I mean those two kiddos couldn't have been more opposite on that account.  Where as Addy was terrified and hyperventilating, Luca had no fear at all and went flying into those waves full force!

 

Heading down to the ocean with Mom and Dad

 

 

What did I tell you?  This kid loves the ocean!!

 

 

 

Family photo :)

 

 

Checking out the boats on the pier with Pap and Grandma

 

 

 

Boats, boats, boats.  Addy was obsessed with finding boats on this trip!  She loved looking out the windows of our house at the ocean and looking for boats.  Boats and "helicops".  That girl loves her moving vehicles!  To this day, over a week later, she thinks that every loud noise she hears is a helicopter.  From trucks driving by... "Helicop!", to the washer and dryer running.... "Helicop!"  It's comical and cute, but the poor thing hasn't seen an actual helicopter since we've been home from the beach.

 

One of our missions on this vacation was to get pictures of these kiddos in the adorable little Scottish outfits that Pap and Grandma got them on their vacation to Nova Scotia.  Check it out, both kids are smiling!  Addy is stretching out, getting ready for her photo shoot.  They were both in a pleasant mood, so we thought it might be easy to grab some photos.  HA HA HA HA!  You'll see....

 

 

I took a couple of Addy by herself while Lauren was getting Luca ready, but I couldn't really get any smiles out of her.  Then, all of the sudden I captured this gem...

I LOVE IT!!!  Definitely in the top ten favorite pictures of Addy!  How did it happen, you ask?  Just guess.  Guess who walked up behind me while I was snapping away.  Yup.  Daddy to the rescue!  That girl lights up like a firefly when her Daddy is around :)

So, it was all worth it because I got this one amazing picture!

Once Luca was all ready we decided to head to the beach for their little photo shoot.  Mistake Number 1.  It was so windy that day and it was like a sandstorm down there.  So of course Addy got sand in her eyes and we were there for all of 5 minutes before we turned around and went home.  But while Mike was trying to deal with Addy's sandy face, I snapped a few pics of Luca and Elmo :)

 

And here's Addy....

Doesn't she just look thrilled to be there all covered with sand?  Ha ha!

 

 

My attempts to get pictures of them together at the beach failed miserably.  Keep in mind though that all of these beach shots were taken in a matter of 5-10 minutes.



 

 

This picture makes me laugh...

We told them to give each other a kiss.  Luca is leaning in and Addy looks like she's thinking, "You are sandy, I am sandy.  Back off."  Ha ha!

 

 

And here is my next succession of pictures....

 

Oh my!!  Sandy mess doesn't even begin to cover it!  But don't worry.... Daddy came to the rescue!

"Oh thank goodness!"

 

"What happened Addy?"

"Um, I don't know.  All of the sudden I am very sandy."

"Helicop!"

 

 

So, that ended the beach photo shoot.  We were heading back to our house and saw this bench and thought we'd give it a quick try.

 

Addy can hardly open her eyes, she's so sandy.  Luca is telling her it will be OK....

 

Addy's not buying it.

 

"Someone pick me up!!!"

 

 

So we took Addy out of the equation and snapped a few pics of this little guy :)

Tried to get a quick family photo, but even this little trooper was pretty over the whole photo shoot by this point.

 

So we headed home.  Addy Marie led the way, sprinting back to the house.

 

 

 

 

The next day we headed back to the beach, since it was a much prettier, not windy day :) 

Addy got in a little bit of light reading...

And here is a picture of everyone where they are most comfortable. 

 Debbie reading in the sun.

Mike laying under the umbrella, beer resting casually on the belly ;)

And Addy Marie sitting on her chair under the umbrella....far, far away from the ocean.

Luca with his mama :)

And Addy with her mama :)

 

This was our last day at the beach.  It was gorgeous and the kids had a lot of fun that day.  Overall we made some progress with Addy by the end of the week as far as liking the beach was concerned.  On this last day she played happily for a long time.  But notice how close we are to the dunes.... meaning we are far away from the ocean.  I even tried to entice her to come down to the ocean by bringing my Italian ice down there to eat.  And we all know that Popsicles are Addy's favorite thing.  Nope.  She followed me about halfway down to the ocean and then she sat down.  And then she turned around and headed back to the blanket.  Even the lure of Italian ice wouldn't make her go near the ocean.  Ha ha!

 

So that was a glimpse of our first beach vacation of the summer.  It was a lot of fun watching Addy and Luca play together that week.  They don't get to see each other nearly enough, and I know they both had so much fun having a playmate all week.  Addy would wake up in the mornings pointing out the bedroom door saying "Luke!!"  She was ready to play!!  She still asks for "Luke", and points to pictures of little boys and says "Luke".  It's so cute!  I wish they could see each other more often.  Maybe someday :)

 

I can't believe in less than a week we are headed back to the beach for Summer Beach Vacation number 2!!!