A Full Day of Beach Fun!

One of my favorite days during our beach trip was the day that we spent most of the morning and afternoon  outdoors by the beach.   

Once we got out to the beach, we found that there was this creek area that developed during high tide.  It was nice, shallow, calm water and the kids loved it!  It was perfect water for crabbing and there were literally thousands of crabs.  So while the kids, David and Bop all ventured into the shallow water for some play, I decided I'd best be suited on the shore.  On the other side of the creek was a little island where the kids enjoyed playing in the softest sand around. Dylan and Zoe spent hours in this little creek and island area.  Dylan would keep telling me "Mommy, I like swimming with the crabs."  And Zoe would just squeal with laughter.  I don't know how to describe this noise she makes but it is one of pure joy that is a bit of a laugh and a shriek at the same time.  I'm sure everyone on the beach knew where Zoe was. 

"Let's get in the water, Mama!"  There was a steep bank of sand built up that the kids enjoyed sliding down into to get to the water at the creek like area.

Dylan and Zoe playing at the edge of the "crab water" as Dylan called it.

Dylan proudly showing off a seashell he found. 

The kids made some friends with Morgan (7) and her little brother, Jackson (4).  Morgan was catching crabs in one bucket and little fish in the other.  She was happy to teach Dylan and Zoe all about the creatures she had.  Morgan had them each name their own crab.

After playing in the "crab water" for a while, Morgan's mom invited us to come have snacks with them.  They shared their goldfish snacks with us and we shared our Capri Suns with them.  After snack time, it was time to go play in the ocean waves and the sand.

While David and Dylan were busy building a sand castle, Zoe and I walked along the beach hunting for seashells.  Zoe would find some shells and she'd say "Look at this one, Mama."  And then when she was ready to find another spot, she'd tell me "Come on Mama!"  After we finished finding shells, Zoe walked towards the ocean and sat at the water's edge and told me "Sit, Mama." So Zoe and I sat in the sand together and let the waves come brush against us.  Zoe ended up sitting in my lap after a while and I had so much fun just soaking in the sand, waves, and ocean breeze with my favorite little girl. 

Dylan and David came down to find us as they were done building a sand castle and Dylan proclaimed "Let's go swimming!"  It was getting past lunch time already, but no one was ready to go in.  It was such a beautiful day and we were all having such a great time.  So we decided to have lunch at the Beach Shack and then we headed on to the pool.  Bop came down to join us at the beach just before lunch so the five us enjoyed our lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs and then it was time for Dylan to show off his swimming skills for Bop.

Dylan decided to jump in the baby pool first.  Here he is wearing "Sharky" which is his puddle jumper life jacket.  Dylan loves this thing! Zoe was old enough to wear a puddle jumper this year and give up the baby float.  Dylan helped me pick out a green frog for Zoe. 

After the kids showed off in the pool for Bop for a while, Dylan asked if Bop would take him to the playground.  Our resort had a great kids playground area right by the beach and Dylan remembered Bop taking him to the playground there last year.  Who could resist this request?  So before going in, we stopped by the playground for a while.

Dylan the climber!

Bop helping Dylan slide down the "fire pole." 

Zoe loves to swing!

It was way past nap time at this point and we were all getting pretty drained from the sun so it was time to head up to the condo and get some rest.  The kids napped for 3 hours!!!