A Day at the Beach

One great thing about being in the Marine Corps is that you always live near the beach! Unfortunately, we have not been taking advantage of that this summer. We have been so busy getting ready to move that we have not had much time for local daytrips! But this week my husband got some time off, so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and just GO!
It was Alex's first time at the beach. I realized that because he is my only summer baby, it was my first time taking an active crawler to the beach. He was mostly happy to stay on the beach towel...

But he got REALLY excited when we let him bounce and play in the waves!

Danny (who is 2 and 1/2 now) was MUCH more excited about the waves and the water than he was last year. He kept pulling us back to the water saying, "C'mon Mom, want to jump the WAVES? They are REALLY FUN!" Last year he was scared of the ocean and would only play in tidal pools, so it was awesome to see him having a great time. The waves kept smacking him in the face, but he didn't care! He would just stand up, wipe his face, and grin while he waited for the next one. I had to keep a good grip on him though, because the tide would pick him up completely and pull his feet out to the ocean with every big wave. He was cracking me up, because he had a smooth pebble clutched in each hand, and he would point them out at the waves in his very serious, very emphatic way, and declare, "Rock Power!" The little guy thought he could dominate the ocean with the power of his rocks or something!

Sophia was super energetic, and jumped up and down the whole time she was in the water. But she also had some quieter moments when she would decorate Daddy's sand castle or just sit with him on the shore.

 So it was a very fun day for everyone, and I'm so glad we went! Today, we had the walk-through to prepare for our big move... which is coming up in 2 weeks! My husband and I have gotten so much done very quickly, but we still have a long list of little things to take care of before the move, so we have "chores" planned almost every day. I hope that we can still find a few more days to relax as a family before we have to say goodbye to North Carolina!