glowing on the beach

A few days before we left for the beach, I happened upon some glow-in-the-dark stick bracelets for $1. I grabbed them. One evening we wandered down to the beach as the sun was setting armed with flashlights and glow in the dark bracelets. The kids had so much fun!!

And Braden had fun experimenting with the camera settings.

vacation pool time

We had hoped to go to our neighborhood pool throughout the month of June in preparation for vacation, but with all the unusual rain that month, we only made it to our pool one time before we left for FL. So Caleb began vacation like this...

...and then to this...

...and ended like this!

Playing guitar on the railing. He plays guitar on everything these days...at least everything he's not playing drums on.

By the end of vacation Maddie was swimming (with her vest on) across the entire pool. She really could swim without her vest, but that is still going to take a bit of convincing.

Speaking of swim vests, my parents bought these for us for vacation, and they were the best things! With the kids each wearing one, they could swim on their own. We had to watch them, but we didn't have to hold them. It helped us to be able to relax and enjoy the pool ourselves.

Swimming on FaFa.

Oh boy, teaching Maddie to hold her breath! She had the most dramatic preparation of holding her breath you've ever seen before she would jump into the pool. She had us laughing more than once.
And just a funny memory...Early in the week when Maddie had just started to swim "alone" (with her vest), but still wouldn't jump in if it meant going under water, I was in the pool with her. In the pool was also a little boy her age jumping and diving into the pool. And also in the pool, two little toddlers whose dads were teaching them to swim--no vests, jumping, splashing, swimming short lengths. Maddie, however, was oblivious to all this. Instead she tells me she's going to swim over there, and paddles off saying, "I am such a GOOD swimmer!"

fun on the beach

Writing the kids' names in the sand--funny how they like that so much.

Searching for seashells and coquinas.

matanzas bay

One afternoon we went shark tooth and seashell hunting at Matanzas Bay.

Caleb kept wearing his hat so low he had to lift his whole head to see anything. Every time we'd pull it up for him, he'd 'fix' it and push it back down. I don't know how he managed to see anything at all and avoid tripping at the same time, but he did.

The kids grabbed so many seashells. We chose a few to bring home, but I told the kids that we were going to throw the rest back into the ocean. So Friday morning we did just that...and a few minutes later a couple of people came walking by. "Wow, look at this shell." "Oh, and look at this one. I've never seen one quite like it." They started picking up the shells we'd just thrown back into the ocean! We were laughing.

Walking back across the boardwalk to the car we came across this guy. He was huge! Yikes!

what boys do

Caleb came to me for help.
He was trying to take off his jammy shirt.
I helped him take it off.

"No, you not s'posed ta do dat. You juss hep me a wittle and den I take it off. Dat's what boys do!"

bobe hits the beach running...

...in the wrong direction.Caleb's first reaction was to run out of the water crying,

"Mommy, da waves keep comeen at me! Dey keep comeen and comeen!"
The first couple days he just wasn't enjoying the ocean.

He much preferred dry land.

In fact he just LOVED playing and digging in the sand.

As the days passed he ventured out with Daddy some...

...and by the end he was running into the water and playing in it.

maddie hits the beach!

Here's to our fun-loving girl!She remembered the beach from 2 years ago and couldn't wait to be back.