August Beach Vacation 2015

This summer we decided to join most of my family in Port Aransas for the annual beach trip. After seeing how much Caitlin loved the beach in June, I was very excited to see the kids playing with their cousins.

All of the kids enjoyed building sand castles and playing in the mud. Caitlin most enjoyed knocking them down. I'm sure she did that just to make Cooper mad.

Jason had one request for our trip - to take Cooper to see the U.S.S. Lexington located in Corpus Christi. Cooper was very excited to see the ship!

Their marketing team must have children. The first airplane as you walk in the door looks just like the Skipper from Planes. Not only did Cooper recognize him, but I heard several kids yell out that it was Skipper and that's Dusty's friend.

The whole experience is very hands-on, with many things for the kids to climb in & on. Caitlin was right behind Cooper, doing whatever he did.

The top deck of the ship has many airplanes to see and even sit in.

Both kids loved seeing everything on the ship, though neither spent much time listening to stories or reading about the ship.

Summer Vacation - The Beach (pt 2)

Cooper was dying to build a sandcastle on the beach. He reminded us several times before we left to pack the beach toys for the trip. Our second morning on the ocean, we made our way to the beach to build a sandcastle. His attention span lasted about 10 minutes before he was in the water - leaving Jason to do most of the work!

Caitlin looked excited to be at the beach, but that was only because Nana was holding her. She discovered how much she really liked her Nana and didn't get too far from her.

She was a diva! I do love those legs...

The bigger boys thought it would be fun to bury each other in the sand.

I'm not sure when it happened, but Cooper ended up in the sand as well.

That evening, we went to The Hangout in Gulf Shores. It is a very casual restaurant with great, eclectic decor. They also have a lot of outdoor activities for the kids...and big kids. Cooper played in the sand until the foam machine started!

The mom in me said no to the foam machine. I didn't want the wet clothes in the car. Thankfully, for Cooper, Nana was there to say it was ok for him to get the wet clothes in her car.

Caitlin tried running away, but eventually embraced the foam.

The next morning, Caitlin threw her first tantrum before 7:30am. That girl has had 2 teeth for months. And she decided to get another one while we were on vacation. My usual 12-hour-sleeper was up every 2 hours. Thank goodness Nana was there, because we would have probably just locked her in the closet and left her there. (not really) I came in a distant second and Aunt Sassy was dead last on her list of favorite people.

Once the fit was over, we made our last trip to the beach. Nana stayed at the pool with Caitlin, where she was much happier.

I think Cooper could have stayed in the water all day. He jumped in the waves and begged us to take him further into the water.

I had to beg Cooper to take photos with us, but I'm glad he did. He thought me almost falling down was hilarious. 

The last morning, I took Cooper down to the beach for one last look. He wanted to see if the ocean had eaten his sandcastle. He wasn't terribly surprised or sad to discover it gone, and we grabbed a few more seashells before leaving.

We tried taking one family photo before we headed out. Caitlin wasn't very supportive of this idea, but I think we managed.

Summer Vacation - The Beach (pt 1)

We made it to the ferry and had a bit of time to wait. Cooper didn't quite understand what we were talking about - he kept thinking we were going to get on a fairy! Everyone got out and stretched their legs - getting a snack & drink while we waited.

When the ferry finally arrived, it really blew Cooper's mind that we were going to drive on the boat! Once we were all settled, we got out of the car so that he could look around.

We finally made it to Gulf Shores where we checked in & got settled into the condo.

The next morning, the guys went fishing while we lounged around a bit. Finally, after lunch Cooper could not be held away from the beach any longer. We packed our stuff up and headed to the beach for the afternoon.

Cooper ran to the water & spent most of his time laughing and running away from the waves. Caitlin was not a fan of the sand or water.

Cooper loved spending his time with Zeth & Clay. They were both really great about including him and keeping an eye on him in the water.

Caitlin did finally warm up to the sand and played for a while. We finally packed up and headed back to the pool to rinse of and rest. Cooper was not thrilled to leave the ocean, but we knew we'd be back the next day.