beach week

And….we’re back. We’ve actually been back since Tuesday but iPhoto has been giving me no end of troubles and it’s been a science of serious trickery to get my photos loaded and edited. But, yesterday, while on the phone with a friend who knew some tricks, and while the kids were both in school (Isaac for his last day), I was able to work on my photos a little.

There was a lot that was different this time around. There always is. That’s one of the things I really like about beach week…I love seeing how we’ve changed each year. Showing up in the same town with the same cast of characters and romping through the same beach traditions, it really makes the changes and growth stand out.

For example, this kid, Isaac. Holy smokes. He was a vertible chatterbox. Sure, he didn’t actually have much to say…but that didn’t stop him. He was noisy at meal times and kept asking me “what’s that? what’s that?” in an endless quest for language expansion. And although he was shy with his cousins, he engaged with them WAY more this year. The biggest and best change, though? He didn’t run away as much. Sure, there was that one time that his Aunt Lorie went running after him when he got close to running in the street and she ended up chasing him around the back of the beach house just trying to keep this kid safe…but, you know, besides that, there really wasn’t much chasing. He’d even walk over to me on the beach when I called for him. Amazing! It made for a more relaxed mama…a beach week first! :)

And he absolutely loved being there.

And this one…who, a few years ago was melting down several times a day, rolled with the punches better than ever. He did get whiney a few times, and there were a few times he needed a count-to-100-using-your-Mississippis break (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, etc.), but I really can’t complain. He was very excited to learn how to swim around more in the ocean this year and caught lots of waves on the boogie board. He tried digging to China in the sand with only a passing fear of the dangers of inner earth. Makes a mama proud.

A few days into beach week, the cousins arrived. This is Katie.

And Ashton.

And Alex.

The best I could get of all 5 together.

We spent our days on the beach.

And at night we walked on the boardwalk.

And got frozen custard.

And went to the amusement park.

where my mom spinned the kids mercilessly on the tilt-a-whirl.

And where my dad, keeper of the tickets, looked on with his quiet smile.

It was a pretty good beach week. And all week my mom kept remarking how much these kids love the ocean. She has a theory that it’s woven into their DNA…that sand and salt water run through their blood streams.

She just might be right.

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