Last Beach Trip of the Summer!

So August rolled around and our vacationing summer comes to an end at the Florida Beaches! I was worried that the oil would have ruined the beaches but, they were gorgeous! Besides the fact, that it was 110 degrees outside we had a great time! The heat has been draining me lately and honestly, I was not thrilled about going to the beach. We have already been for three weeks this year and going to the pool all the time. I am over the outdoor activities that come with summer time! There were TWO reasons that we sucked it up and went anyway! My sister Heather and my Aunt Punkin! I do not get to see them that often because traveling with children is not the easiest! So this was one of our chances to spend time with them! Brian followed us down to the beach and had worked his schedule out so he could stay a few nights. This way he could visit with everybody as well. We headed down on a Friday afternoon and got there around 3:00pm. Heather was asleep because she had been at a conference in Vancouver, Canada. There was no sleeping once our craziness entered the house! They woke her up and there was no stopping from that moment on!

The first night we were there we went to a putt putt golf place right there on the grounds where there place is located. This was nice because we just rode the golf cart over and some of us even walked. Henley has never seen a golf club, much less played so, needless to say, she loved it! Brian tried to help Christian with his putting but, this night he was more interested in running around stealing all the balls! I think someone was a little tired and delirious at the time! After that we all went back to the house and put the kids to bed and relaxed! It had been a long day and I was tired and it was HOT! The next few days would be filled with outside so, I wanted to be indoors as much as I could. 

The mornings were filled with beach and pool time! The beach had to be early because in the afternoon the seaweed got really bad! The locals told us it was because of the solvent they put in the water to dissolve the oil. The solvent would sink down to the bottom of the ocean and kill all the seaweed, causing it to come up and onto the beach! Whatever the case, it was yucky and the kids would not tolerate it for a second! Once we came off the beach it was directly to the pool for more play! My parents, Brian, Heather and Punkin would take Christian to the pool and I would take Henley up for a nap! I really enjoyed this because I never get any quite time for myself...EVER! I really do not think I spent to much time outside this trip because by the time we got out, it was time to go back up for a nap! This gave me plenty of opportunity to do other things. I got to go shopping at the outlets with no children, exercise and just run an errand by myself or with my sister! This was very enjoyable! Thanks to my parents and Punkin who would watch the kiddos free of charge!! :)





































































We went out to dinner a few times but, we tried to eat in too. I am not a fan of going out with the kids because it just gets to crazy at a restaurant. They eat and then they want to play...they are kids so, what do you expect? Last time we were down there we went to this restaurant called Fudpuckers. The food is absolutely horrendous but, they have live alligators the kids can feed! Now that is a great source of entertainment for them! We went and did that again this time and the kids loved it! The alligators were not biting because I think they were stuffed to the guild! They had been eating all day and just lounging around now! Brian and Christian had their picture taken holding one of the alligators and that was really cool or at least that is what I was told!! :)

The days were filled up with the pool, beach etc...My parents place is right across from Baytowne Wharf! This such a fun place for the kids to play. They have a huge playground and tons of child friendly things to do. We had snow cones one day, ice cream one night and just played over there in the park after dinner! I think the snow cones were a hit because the kids had red mouths from the cherry flavoring! Following a snow cone I think they were on a sugar high that lasted a good while! We took pictures of the kids in this huge chair which, we had done last year! It was fun to look back and see how much they have changed!

One big surprise was cousins Bill and Bonnie came down for the weekend. I have not seen them in four years and they have never met our children. Bonnie was a preschool teacher forever and the kids really took to her. The creative ideas she plays with the kids and the ideas she has with teaching them are amazing! I need her to email me weekly with a planned schedule! I wish that I had a photogenic memory so I could have remembered it all! They were awesome and it was wonderful getting to visit with them! We hated to see everybody leave and one by one they got on airplanes and headed out! We had a great time visiting with you all and look forward to many  more vacations together! Thanks to my parents for letting us bring a little chaos to their vacation! We love you all!