Week 11/a.k.a. BEACH WEEK!

We spent the last week of summer at the beach.  It kind of felt like summer's grand finale and it was over way too soon.  Now that I'm in the midst of PTA paperwork I'm feeling really nostalgic for the beach.  It was so fabulous:

We loved the actual beach house.  It wasn't directly on the beach, but beach adjacent and the short walk didn't require us to cross any roads so it was quite nice. 

My favorite aspects of the house were the pool table and the theater room.  Drew and I had fun playing pool together and while I never actually watched a show in the theater room, the kids did every morning which meant we got to sleep in a little bit (and it was nice when the guys watched football).  Now I always want to stay somewhere with a theater room.  Oh, and, that's Ellie on the pool table.  I had to remove her way too much.

Liz really liked the trip.  She spent a lot of time body boarding and playing in the waves with her friends (or her parents).  Also, one evening she and I enjoyed searching for crabs on the beach after dark.  So fun. The last day at the beach Liz seemed sulky to me and I getting annoyed because I thought she was acting like that because I made her swim out to the sandbar.  Turns out she was legitimately unwell.  Within an hour of returning to Virginia Liz and I were coolin our heals at the E.R. Bladder infection.  Awesome.

After our first beach visit Alaina never wanted to go back.  She'd cry and yell things like "No!  I hate the beach!"  But, once we'd drag her down to the beach she'd happily play in the sand for hours and ask to stay longer when we said it was time to go.  Lainey was terrified of the waves so she never went in the ocean, but she loved the pool.  Our last day at the beach, Alaina was excited to go diaper-free (a big moment for her apparently).  She also took a nap in the sand which showed me just how much we had worn her out that week.

Ellie also wasn't big on the ocean, but she loved, loved playing in the sand and on our last beach day she let Drew take her in the water.  Like Lainey, Elle preferred the pool where she especially liked riding on a giant blow-up whale another family brought.  Ellie was mischievous, as usual.  I often found her in the big girl's room rummaging around in their things, or I found things she'd stolen from them and put it in her crib.  Our first night there Lainey decided to make herself a little bed and sleep in the closet.  Fun idea, but Ellie kept climbing out of her pack 'n play and slamming the closet door shut.  We come down to the room to sort things out and find Ellie grinning near the closet and Lainey screaming.  Elle just would not stay in bed so we had to lay down with her each night until she feel asleep (about a 20 minute commitment).

Andrew spent a lot of time body boarding with the other dads (and older kids).  He also enjoyed kite flying, eating at Pigmans Barbecue, and participating in the Mancathalon.  For me, the best parts were relaxing on the beach (loved the awning because the little girls almost NEVER left it), playing the in the waves (tried body boarding, it wasn't for me), finally swimming out to the sandbar, and girls night out to Rundown Cafe (so good--loved the coconut shrimp and the Rundown soup).  And we both loved visiting with the other adults after the kids went to bed.