Beach Trip 2015

We went to the beach this weekend with my parents and it was so wonderful!  We haven't been to the beach in about a year and a half, so we were excited to go.  My dad has been talking to James about fishing for a few weeks now and they have even practiced fishing in the living room.  When Luke went down for his morning nap, Lisa stayed at the condo with him and the rest of us went on the boat.  Unfortunately, the fish were not biting as quick as James would have liked.  He sat there with Ray for a few minutes but quickly lost interest.

My dad caught a tiny grunt fish and James liked touching and listening to it (it grunts). 

Selfie with my ridiculous hat - but guess who didn't get sunburned?!  This girl!

Since we didn't have much luck fishing, we went back to the condo to get Lisa and Luke.  Ray showed James a picture of the fish my dad caught. 

We got Luke ready and headed to the beach-

James loved playing with a few simple toys in the sand-

Luke loved crawling everywhere-

My dad caught some bait fish with his net and threw them in a bucket and the boys loved playing with them.  Luke couldn't catch one, but James loved pulling them out, holding it for a few seconds, and tossing it back in the bucket.

We went back to the condo for a late lunch and by the time lunch was over, we were all exhausted.  James and Luke both slept for over three hours and we finally woke them up a little before 5pm.  The sun and sand always exhaust me!  After dinner and putting the kids to bed, Ray and I went out to a little restaurant to get dessert.  It was nice to have some one on one adult time.  

The next morning, Lisa stayed with Luke again during his morning nap, and the rest of us went to get doughnuts.  James is obsessed with doughnuts.  He only has one maybe once a month at the most, but he loves them.  He was in heaven.  

After doughnuts, we went to play mini-golf.  We didn't know how James would do, but he was awesome.  He patiently waited his turn and he followed the rules.  He was interested for all 18 holes and did a great job - even when it was challenging for him.  It was fun to watch him play. 

After golfing, we went back to the condo to pick up Luke and Lisa to go back to the beach.  I didn't know how the boys would do on the boat rides since they had to sit still and be in life-vests, but they did very well.  They didn't seem happy about it, but they didn't fight it either. 

They love the sand-

Luke loved playing in the water.  Ray had to make sure he didn't go in to deep.  The child is fearless - just like James. 

For out last day there, we went to the aquarium.  James really liked touching the sting rays and Luke loved crawling everywhere.  It was too cool to go on the boat the last day, so the inside activity was perfect.  

 I was nervous about a 4 hour drive with kids that typically think that a 30 minute drive is the longest amount of time they are ever in the car.  They did great.  My friends advised me to leave at nap time so that they'd nap in the car.  We did and it was so helpful!  We didn't even stop on the way home - we drove straight through.  I was also a little concerned about sleeping since there were six of us in a two bedroom condo.  Luke slept in the master bathroom (in a pack n play) and James slept in the bedroom with me and Ray (in a pack n play).  The kids slept great and so I was very thankful.  My parents were wonderful hosts and made everything so much fun.  We will for sure be back!  We loved the beach in the fall.