Final beach trip of the year...

We spent last week at the beach with the grands, their mother and my niece. Much fun was had by most of us since most of us didn't imbibe too much and end up spending ALL day Thursday in the bed, and missing out on lots of great pool time with the kiddos. The three people who know me and read this blog will know exactly who I am talking about.. Thank back to the "shrimp" incident of approximately 1994 or so.. And, that is enough said about that...

We usually go to the beach, without ever actually going ON the beach. The mother of the grands was determined to spend the day ON the beach this year, and that is what we did. Benton was not too keen about this idea since he has seen shark week on several ocassions and was convinced sharks live EVERYWHERE in the ocean, and they are always looking for people to eat. Bailey has no issues with the water and went right in, even wading through 20 feet of seaweed to get to the clear blue water. Benton agreed to let me carry him out in the water and he was continuously asking about sharks. I told him there were people who watched for sharks and if there were sharks in the water, it was unlikely they would be in knee deep water, and the shark watchers would notify us immediately if one was spotted. We talked about all the fish we could see swimming around and in his excitement about the fish, and me possibly catching one with my bare hands, he agreed to stand in the water and hold my hand, just in case... you know.. a shark came after us. He eventually got comfortable in the water and ended up having a great time. Bailey enjoyed it immensely and even put on her goggles so she could go under and open her eyes. She didn't care too much for the taste of saltwater, but everything else about the experience was fun. When we finally returned to the room, Bailey opted to stay with Man and the rest of us headed back to the pool to rinse the salt water out of our crevices.

Bailey and Man had much fun. He gave her a bath at her request, dresssed her in a dress of her choosing, brushed her hair and then they headed out on their own. She did the bungy jump, had a pushup AND a bubblegum milkshake and eventually met up with us for dinner, where Bailey continued to eat. That girl will consume a Ceasar salad in a heartbeat! And, I guess that balances out all the junk Man let her eat on their outing...

The next day started bright and early at the pool and it was a fun day for most of us. We stayed in the pool most of the day and when we FINALLY went in, the grands crashed. Man and I went out to dinner alone and then met back with everyone to watch the Bee Movie outside. I had never watched it from beginning to end in one sitting, but got to this time and I loved it! After that was over, we pretty much called it a night.

The next day we headed home. With the exception of stopping every 20 to 30 minutes for the almost 4 year old to potty, it was an uneventful ride home, with the exception of Man's driving technique, which leaves a LOT to be desired.

I am always glad to get home after I have been gone for several days. And, I need to rest up for our next trip, minus Man and my niece, to create new memories with some great friends! JUGS!

Point Clear Alabama..

We are back from the first beach trip of the year, and I am happy to announce, no oil was seen, or smelled.. Benton and Bailey overheard conversations about the oil spill and were very concerned we were going to see it while at the beach. Bailey described it as "disgusting" and Benton was concerned about the animals that have died as a result, and that are going to die if it is not contained soon.

On a lighter note, we took them the battleship in Mobile, and they could have cared less. I was pretty sure they were not going to be interested, but Man loves history and wanted to take a tour and used them as a reason to go. Having been there many years ago, and realizing battleships DO NOT HAVE AIR CONDITIONING, I knew it would be a short lived tour. The kids didn't care about it, and Man doesn't like to sweat. We were back on the road shortly thereafter and headed to our destination which was about 20 minutes away.

As soon as we arrived at the hotel, me and the kids put on our suits and headed to the pool. The kids were excited about getting to go down the super slide until we realized the rules had changed since our last trip to The Grand and they no longer allowed small children to sit in on an adult's lap and go down the slide. If they weren't 4 feet tall, they could not go down. BUMMER!!! Both were disappointed, but were appeased by the fact that G will stand in the "deep" water and let them swim to her 99 times each, and to them, this was fun times. The only time I got to rest, was when the nice people at the pool offered tattoos of the kids' favorite cartoon characters, and when they realized they sold popsicles at the pool. Four dollar popsicles to be exact.. times 2! But it was money well spent, because it meant I got to undulge in an adult beverage, or two.

And let's not forget the time Bailey jumped in the "deep" water while I was helping Benton look for something in our beach bag which was sitting on the pool deck, and when I turned around, she was swimming back to the steps. Hopefully none of my goods were exposed as I ran back to the pool, jumped in and grabbed her out of the water. She came up smiling. I told her to NEVER jump in the pool again unless I was already in the water, and she said "OK G"... and she was good to go. Then there was the older lady who was standing in the middle of the pool who actually witnessed Bailey jumping in the deep water, and was doing her best to get to her, but it is hard to run in chest deep water. It just doesn't work very well. I thanked her for her efforts though and hoped she believed me when I told her I had warned Bailey to NOT go in the deep water when I am not in there.

We had lots of fun doing whatever the kids wanted to do. When they wanted to swim, I did, and when they wanted to walk around the resort and explore, I did. Outside one of the restaurants they have a putting green and the kids are welcome to play on it. I was able to sit outside, in the shade, while being waited on by Sophie, and watch the kids play to their heart's content. It was perfect to me. We also walked on the beach, looked for tar balls, didn't find any, and then we would go back to the room and talk about renting 14.00 movies. I only agreed to this one night.

When Benton discovered we could actually have breakfast brought to the room, he requested Fruit Loops. "Room service" Fruit Loops are expensive at resorts. $6.50 a bowl to be exact. But, since he had never had room service, I caved and ordered it one morning and $51.80 later, they had ingested one bowl of Fruit Loops each, Bailey ate a few berries off the fruit bowl I ordered, and both mostly ignored the two glasses of orange juice I had ordered. Lesson learned. No more room service. The next morning, we went to the dining room to eat and they both had Fruit Loops, FOR FREE!!!! You live and learn.

We had fun, and look forward to the next beach trip to Sandestin in August. I don't look forward to the laundry, but I do look forward to the trip!

The Beach...

We spent most of last week at the beach. We headed out Tuesday morning with Man, Daughter, Niece, BT, BK and of course, G. Needless to say we had to buy a turtle to put on the top of the SUV for all of our stuff. And, we took less stuff this year than last year. Seating arrangements, as designated by BT were: Man driving, Daughter front seat passenger (she SAYS she gets car sick if she rides anywhere other than the front.. not sure I believe this since it didn't happen until she had kids), BK in carseat in "middle backseat" as BT calls it, right behind Man, niece in "middle backseat" behind Daughter, and BT and me in the "very back seat".. Yep, I am ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK because BT wanted it that way. And, 2 hours into the trip, BK decided it was just not fair that she was not sitting by me like her "brudder" was and we moved her to the "very back seat" too and I sat between two carseats for the next 4 1/2 hours. Woohoo!!!! It actually worked out fine since I could tend to their every "whine" without any interference from any of the other adults who seemed to aggravate all situations involving small children in a confined space for multiple hours. We watched five movies, some more than once. I can now read the lips of Willy Wonka since I opted not to wear headphones. The funniest thing was listening to the kids sing along with the music while they had their headphones on. We couldn't hear the music but they could.

I would have taken a nap, but when BK caught me napping, she woke me up and told me "You no take nap G." If I dozed off again, she would pat my face to wake me.

We arrived at the beach earlier than expected, and spent a good bit of time trying to get the condo we specifically requested, and were told was available at the time we made our reservations. Man doesn't take no for an answer and we finally got what we had requested. Not sure why they tell you one thing when you make the reservation and then try to give you something different when you arrive. We finally unloaded our stuff and then Man and I headed to the grocery store. Once we got that over with we headed to the pool. BK is the exact opposite of her brother. He watches over her like a hawk. She is fearless while he is extremely cautious. We could leave him by the pool for hours and never worry about him getting in over his head. You have to be in the water with BK because even when the water is covering her nose, she is still smiling and headed for deeper waters.

We eventually made it to dinner which was fantastic. Steamed lobster, crablegs, shrimp, clams, etc. BK ate whatever we put on her plate, including the clams. She will eat ANYTHING! We had to special order BT chicken strips from another restuarant so he would have something to eat other than crackers. Can you say "picky eater?" Once dinner was over, we headed back out to the village for armbands and lots of bouncy things. The kids were loving it, and so were we, when the bottom fell out and sheets of rain starting falling. We ran for cover and stood there for about 30 minutes thinking it would let up, but it did not. BK went to sleep in my arms and I ended up walking back to the condo, barefooted (didn't want to ruin my shoes), carrying over 30 pounds, up hill, in the rain. And, she woke up as soon as we walked in the door. Go figure. I finally got them both to sleep, again, only to be awakened hours later by BK, who had wet the bed. Lovely. I put dry towels over it, changed her, got them back to sleep, and then I returned to my bed. 2 hours later, BK joins me and Man in our bed. And, she wants to snuggle. And she snores. And, I am in the middle. I don't like being in the middle. I get up early, as usual, and she sleeps til 8. Lucky her.

And yes, I did wash all the sheets and blankets the next day, only to do that every day we were there because she wet the bed every, single, night. Lucky me.

We headed to the pool again, and we stay all day. A good friend (former neighbor) and her daughter (who my Daughter used to babysit) drove down from Alabama and we had dinner with them. I love these people!! We had lots of fun together when we lived closer, and I miss that. They left too soon, and we headed back to the village to get tattoos, and listen to the band. The end of another fun day.

Thursday we traveled east to meet more friends from Alabama for a few hours at the pool. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit with them too. The kids had fun, and we had to head west way too soon. We spent more time at the pool and then got dressed for dinner again, and headed to a place outside of Baytown. It was not as good as I remembered it being. Next year I will vote to try somewhere new. The kids enjoyed it because it was on the beach. When we got back to the village they were showing a movie and we got to see the last hour of Lemony Snicket.. Yes, I spelled that correctly. BT wants his own copy. I am working on it.

Also, BK was standing at the pool while we were with friends, and an EXTREMELY large man walked by her and down the steps into the pool. She stared at him for a long time and then said "He's big." And when I started laughing at her for observatoin, she put her hand over my mouth and told me to SHHHHH....

Friday we spent the day at the pool, ate some of the best pizza ever on the lake, made a wasted trip to the outlet stores, went to dinner again, and listened to a band while the kids danced, danced, danced. When the kids showed signs of being tired, and they should have been worn out, we headed to the condo. We had another night of wet beds, and BK joined me and Man again. Funny thing is, she wet the bed, got up, took her clothes off, and came and got in my bed completely naked.

Saturday we headed home bright and early, and yes, I rode in the "very back seat" between two carseats for 6 1/2 hours, and at times I had a towel wrapped around each arm so they could rest their heads on something while staying strapped in their car seats. We watched five more movies, again, some more than once, again, and then we FINALLY arrived home. Fun trip. Tired G.

Can't wait until next year.

P.S. Daughter realized she didn't have access to Facebook shortly after we arrived and could barely function. Thank goodness she could still send text messages. I am not sure she could have survived being competely disconnected from "her world."