Fun in the Sun

We just got back from a wonderful family vacation. We met with 3 other families down at the Outer Banks, NC. Four families, 5 kids and a pretty nice house. We were a short walk from the beach and had a nice pool at the house. The kids swam like fish! The morning usually started off over a cup of coffee and the kids begging to head to the beach. As Daddy and I drug our feet and fought to wake up, the kids would eat breakfast and swimsuit up. As we all know summer is wonderful and enjoyable, except the part of applying sunblock. A half hour later, sunblock applied, snacks and juice/water packed and it's off to the beach. There's four of us in our family, everyone had their arms full! We would either stake out a nice part of the beach and the other families would join us or we would meet up with someone who had made it out the door ahead of us.

As Daddy took the time to put up our umbrella the kids would race to the water's edge. I must admit that having older kids at the beach is much nicer than it was a few years ago. We had them wear a life vest when they got near or in the water. They would float over the swells and pop back up if a wave got them. Is it bad to say that the look on their faces when a wave hit them and rolled them was priceless. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds, I got smashed once too. Plus, most of the time they popped back up, grinned and choked out "I'm okay." When they were tired of the water they would swim in and play in the sand. Since they were doing so good on their own Daddy and I didn't have to come in with them. They would ride the waves in, keep their life vests on and play. I loved them when they were babies but older and more independent definitely has it's advantages!

After a few hours everyone would get hungry and we'd head back to the house. As soon as lunch was over the kids wanted to jump right into the pool. We only made the mistake of no rest one day. That night was full of melt downs, that didn't happen again! The other days the kids would rest, snack then right back into the water they would go. They got to show Daddy their wonderful swimming skills. Man he was impressed how far they have come since last year. We had to practically pry their little bodies out of the water (if that's possible) to get them out for dinner. The first night we actually let them eat by the pool.

All the kids did very well together. They ranged in ages from 9 months to 7 years old. The girl and the boy shared the bunk room with another little girl, age 3. They all did great but a little too social. They stayed up till all hours and were awake at the crack of dawn. Thank goodness the room came equipped with a DVD player and the kids didn't feel the need to wake us up when they got up. The girl had a 2yr. old admirer that showed up about half way through the week. He followed her around the house exclaiming that she was his. He grabbed her hand and took her all the places he wanted to go. He also ran in and out of the water just as she did, placing his feet just like hers. It was the girl's first summer romance (she just liked having someone do exactly what she wanted him to.)

The 3 year old was a little girl and she and the boy got along wonderfully. The boy actually stood up to his sister and went along with the 3 year old girl instead, a shocker for me!

I can't wait to do it again next year and see how much everyone has changed. I'll cross my fingers and say my prayers that the kids and parents do as well every year as they did this year.