This morning I noticed that it has been over a month since my last post. I'm so far behind...guess I should start at the beginning of summer break. My sister and I were planning on taking Carly and the boys to the beach the second week of July, but because of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill we decided we better move our vacation up. And I am so thankful we did because the beaches were beautiful. The media was reporting that tar balls were washing up on the beaches while we were there but we saw no evidence of the spill. In fact, as I sat on the beach I often found it hard to believe that the oil spill was only about few miles away and would eventually ruin the beaches of Pensacola. I am so sad to say that now, a few weeks later, oil is covering Pensacola beach. :( 
The media lining the beach....searching for oil :(Our week was jam-packed with fun! The kids were really good and had a blast. They were so funny. They played nonstop.....until we got in the truck. They were never awake longer than 5 or 10 minutes after we put them in their seats. While we were there we of course went to the beach, zoo, Gulfarium, water park, and on a dolphin cruise. Carly and I also went to my old school to visit with some of my old students. I will post pictures of all of these soon. But for now I am going to focus on our trips to the beach.
Walking to the water for the 1st time!
Jeanette and Ryan staying warm.
Julie with Carter
Mommy...please take me back out!
Shivering...but not ready to go bye-bye.
Carly's covering up Carol's yawn.I was pleased to see that Carly liked the beach as much as I do. I think ALL of us could have stayed down there all day long...well, maybe not Ryan, he didn't much care for the sand. The first night we got there we went to the beach with Julie and met Carol, Conor, and his friend there. Carly loved it right away. In fact, she kept wanting to go out even though she was shivering. She took to it right away. She enjoyed playing on the beach and at the edge of the water, but most of all she liked it best when I took her out and jumped around in the waves. Carter, on the other hand, seemed to like sitting on the edge of the water the best. He didn't even seem to mind when the water tried to pull him back in. And Ryan had the best time the day there was a sand bar a few feet out making a nice 2 foot pool of water that he could roll, jump, and splash around in.
Check out our beach gear...OH MY!
Yep, I'm one of those tacky tourist but with 2 adults and 3 young kiddos there just aren't enough arms. So, I had my hubby rig up Carly's little pool into a pull along. haha...it worked!
I used to love lazing around and reading while soaking up the sun and going out past the breaking of waves and swimming or floating on a raft, but there was none of that on this trip. In fact, this trip to the beach was so different than any other time that I have been. There was no boogie boarding or riding waves, no walking for miles along the shore, no fruity drinks, no napping...but then again, this was the best beach trip I have ever had. Life is so much better with Carly...so blessed to have her in my life!
