Beachin' It

The first full week in June, we went to the beach for a week with Grandma and Poppop. It was the girls' introduction to Emerald Isle, the NC beach I grew up going to each summer and one of my most favorite places on earth. Thankfully, they LOVED it, so we will definitely be going back!

For the first time ever, we were oceanfront (a special splurge this year) and it was great - especially with two little kids along. It made getting children, sand toys, towels, beach chairs, etc to and from the beach so much easier. And it was definitely awesome to head out to our ocean deck to just hang out and enjoy the view. We ate ice cream out there, had dance parties, observed pelicans and helicopters, and just watched the world go by.

our house, view from beach side

Both girls really did love the beach. Hayden ran right to the water when we got there and wasn't hesitant about it the whole trip. Eliza got her toes wet quickly, then got a little timid for a day or so, and then decided that the ocean - and going out PAST the waves, no matter how rough - was the best thing ever. "pick it up" "more swimmen" which we heard over and over again in the last half of the week was Eliza for "PICK ME UP NOW AND TAKE ME OUT SWIMMING THE WAVES!"

checking out the ocean upon our arrival

E's toes in the water for the first time on an NC beach

The girls quickly got into the swing of a tradition Sanford family beach vacation. Hayden embraced jigsaw puzzles and game playing. Eliza put her feet up and tried to wear as little clothing as possible. Hayden learned about building lagoons and drip castles. Eliza learned the words "M&M" and "pelican" and how to mooch food from everyone else, including Popop's sandwich. (A bowl of M&Ms is a Sanford beach tradition. The girls quickly learned where the bowl was located and who was most likely to let them have one.)

learning to play Chutes and Ladders. Love the naptime hair!

even at the beach, a pool can be fun.

Beach Hair!

Both girls learned the fun of jumping on sand cliffs when out for an evening walk on the beach.

enjoying the beach breezes

down

up all by herself

and down again!

our weird dog, taking a breather at the bottom of the sand cliffs

Eliza decided she needed to be taken for a walk

the blonde girls enjoying a lovely beach evening

In between beach time, naps and meals, we managed to fit in a couple of our traditional beach outings. We went to the NC Aquarium (drastically renovated and redone from when we went before!). We went to see the turtles behind the Food Lion Plaza in Emerald Isle. We got lunch at the Big Oak drive-in (paved parking lot now!) and went out for ice cream.

turtle outside the aquarium. inside pics didn't turn out well.

what is everyone looking at you ask?

why turtles of course!! (check out the big one!)

But mainly we just enjoyed the beach. We had a designated system for applying sunscreen each time we went out - at least for those under the age of 5. First get naked. Run around like crazy. Once an adult catches you, sunscreen is applied to your body whether by lotion or spray (depends on what's handy and how much protesting you are doing). Then run around naked again yelling "naked time!" so that the sunscreen dries. Then get corralled by an adult again and put into a swim suit. Finally sit in the sunscreen chair and complain horribly while sunscreen lotion is rubbed onto your face. Sometimes the order would be reversed depending how long you'd been running around and where you got caught.

Once sunscreen was applied, we'd head down to the beach with towels, beach chairs and sand toys in tow. We'd play in the waves, build sandcastles, snuggle into towels, watch the ocean, rescue little crabs who'd been stranded in dry sand and do all other sorts of fun things. It was great.

the flipflop deposit spot

The beautiful quiet beach at Emerald Isle. Love it!

beach towel burrito

And of course we took pictures. I even tried to get one of the pooches, who got to come with us. Of course, when I was trying to tell the dogs to sit down, Eliza was the one who listened (Blizz was already relaxing) and sat down next to Blizz. Then she did downward facing dog as she got back up.

grandparents and grandkids

Beach babes!

And one of us! Yay for family beach vacations!