Beach Bum Boys!

Here's the next set of photos from our trip to Destin. After several grocery runs, (we were feeding 22 people every meal, after all. Yes, Alex is one of 5 siblings, so we had 6 families, including the 10 cousins at the beach!) we settled into life at the beach! The boys slept pretty well in their pack and plays, but it was also light in our room by 6:30 or so. So we got an early start most days. Alex would get up and run, and the boys and I would join him downstairs for breakfast a while later. The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins, especially Josh and Noah, and exploring the new house. 

After breakfast, we'd get the boys ready for the beach, which was always an ordeal. They don't like to get dressed ever, but for some reason they really hated their swimsuits and shirts. I think it might be because it's made of a different material and felt weird against their skin. Then we'd have to get them sunscreened, and that was another process. We were still using the baby sunblock we had from last year, so it's thick and white and gets all over everything they touch. Most days I usually wanted to give up, since they were crying and whining and running away, but Alex's sister Lesley made me feel better when she said, "If someone's not crying by the time you get to the beach, you're doing something wrong." :) And truly, we'd be exhausted when we got to the beach, after schlepping towels, chairs, beach toys, snacks, water, extra sunscreen, and the actual children. But the boys would have a great time once we were there! 

They didn't seem bothered by the sand and liked to dig in it. They were a little more cautious about the water. Some days, they'd enjoy going in the water and jumping in the waves while we held them, and some days it seemed too scary for them. We'd stay down at the beach til 11:30 or so and then go back upstairs, eat lunch, rinse off/change clothes and put them down for their nap. A few days they went to the pool in the afternoon, but most days we kept them inside or near the house after their nap. Alex didn't want them to get too much sun. Their skin was getting rashy, either from the sunscreen or the rash guard shirts, so we tried to prevent that as much as possible. They did not get burnt at all, so yay! Mom victory for me!

Monday was Josh's second birthday party. Stephanie did an awesome job with decorations and favors and a yummy lunch. I was so impressed that she could put all of that together while on vacation! It was a beach theme, and Henry and Holden definitely enjoyed their cute cupcakes and beachy favors. I think Josh enjoyed his beach ball cake and presents, so it was a fun afternoon.

It was nice to be right on the beach and not feel the need to go anywhere. Obviously it would be too hard to go out with all of us at once, but it was great that we really had everything we needed right at hand. The traffic was so insane that you could barely turn out of our complex, so that definitely was a deterrent as well. (I did manage to sneak out to the outlet mall one nap time though!) We only went out to eat a few times. We went to the Crab Trap, a place we've been before, but that usually has a long wait. It was right on the beach and did have a playground area, so that helped! And at least we got some cute cousin and family pictures on the beach that evening. 

 

 

 

 

Major "aww" moment. They loved Noah! 

Cousins! Best you can hope for of 9 kids. :)

Wow, amazing view....