Well it wouldn't be a trip to the beach for an Arkansas girl if she didn't get a snapshot of her feet in the white sand, now would it...
Lets see, Jon and I have been to the beach 13 times in the last 6 years and I'm pretty sure I have taken the above picture at every single one...However, the coolest part about our most recent vacation is that my little guy got to tag along.. He loved it...and I now have a new favorite 'toes in the sand' pic that includes my little gremlin :)
---
We got the kids up early in hopes that they would sleep on the long car ride.. well, Jaxson did, but Kellen was wide eyed and bushy tailed as soon as we got him to the car seat! He was so excited to go and was afraid he would miss something so he just decided to stay awake for all but 45 minutes of the 12 plus drive! When he got in the car he said ' it's dark on my eyes Momma.' (he hasn't seen 3a.m. too many times) I told him to close his pretty eyes and get some sleep and he replies with 'you got some pretty eyes on you Momma.' I emailed his quotes immediately to myself so i wouldnt forget what he said at age 2 on his trip to Florida. Priceless
-----
The yellow flag was out each day and on the last day it was red.. we went at the perfect time as I think this part of Florida got some pretty rough storms the very next week. The water was of course crashing in swift. (we'll hit up the caribbean again next year for some calmness and floatin... subliminal message to Jon while reading this.)
It was fun to watch my Davis boys enjoy the beach.
Kellen's very first beach adventure was a success. From the moment his feet touched down off the steps of the walk-way he hit the sand running. No complaining, no fussing, no nothing other than great family memories. This child can hang!
It was really impressive how much this little guy played in the sand. We spent hours at the beach each day and he genuinely laughed and played and soaked up every minute of it. However, he was having NO part of 'smiling' for the camera. This half smirk/half snarl was about all i could get.
love it
Mimi was setting in the sand building 'condominiums' because she said they werent big enough to be castles.. ha
Kellen was teasing her about knocking them down. 'iiiii'm gonna knock it down'... 'iiiim gonna get it'
he then of course cracked himself up...
and when she went out to the water he demolished them all.
stinker!
------
Jaxson loved it as well.. He was mostly fixated on collecting shells, so he spent hours walking
the beach and sifting through. He collected tons!
He did leave a little time for some boogie boarding.. Lord knows there were plenty of waves to be caught!
--
Burying dad in the sand is just gonna be a tradition for the beach..
Excuse me sir... you seem to be missing your bod.
He mimicks about everything Jon does, so after they buried Jon in the sand, he of course wanted a turn at it.. 'momma, cover up my legs' 'where'd my legs go'.
He tried to lay back and be covered up with sand but he eventually was content with just his legs and feet..
-----
Without a doubt one of my favorite trips to the beach...Not only was it Kellen's first time to go, but it was also my parents. After years of harassing them to vacation with us they finally gave in. and they LOVED it. I think Kellen is the one that actually convinced them to go (not me).. but whatever works!
-------
Oh the fun, oh the fun... If a go-cart track is within a 30 mile radius Jon and I will sniff it out.. I think its one of the first things we did when we started dating and we've been going ever since. We can say all day long that we go 'for the kids'... but the truth is we go so I can kick his REAR!(which i do.) snap.
Kellen road with me the first night we went.. He was fine to go, got set down in the car, buckled in, looked up at me and grinned from ear to ear.... until he realized he couldnt reach the stearing wheel! He was distraught! He was pulling at his seatbelt and crying.. frantically saying 'momma, i cant reach the stearing wheel, i cant reach it, i cant dwive!'...I wanted to just let him sit in my lap and hold him so he could 'dwive' ... so heart breaking..
He finally realized he could grab on to one side of the wheel with one hand and hold on that way.. once we got going he loved it and just enjoyed it. The next day we went back and he road with Pops.. He took his monkey George along for the ride. I think the 3 of them had a blast. :)
-----
On to Fud Puckers for the Alligator farm.
Tried to feed us a few alligators but they were lazy bums.
-------
Brittany (my niece) and Chris just moved to Alabama and were able to drive down to join us...Chris only got to stay for a day but Brittany was there for the week.
The boys of course loved having them along..
It is hard to believe my neice is married and has a baby on the way.. I remember her running around at Kellen's age. Your lives change, your family grows...Time marches on. I am 300% stoked that we got to experience this beach trip with her and my parents.
-----
and yes we picked out the boys coordinating beach outfits and yes I spray painted our broken kitchen table chair orange to match their outfits for pictures on the beach.. I'm a big ol geek like that!
Of course the evening we designated for pictures the restaurant took about an hour too long so we ran out of light and pictures were rushed.. no biggie. My boys are pros so we didnt need long at all.
-----
We picked a smaller complex with fewer units for this trip.. less crowds. The pool was small but we had it practically to ourselves every day.
Jaxson had me take a picture of each jump he was doing.. he said, 'we'll take pictures of each jump I do and then i'll name em when we see the pics.'.. kidz
To celebrate Jaxson's SEVENTH birthday, we planned to just pick up some angry birds cupcakes somewhere there local one night for dinner.. well, no such luck finding any.. So as you can see my mom improvised. angry birds gifts and angry birds cupcakes! he was pleased. way to go Mimi! :)
-----
We of course went crab hunting.. the first night.. pretty much arrived, ate, and then went on a wild baracuda crab hunt! The boys even brought fantsy head gear night goggles. they were ready to hunt some crabs! I personally just enjoy the sound of the waves crashing at night, with a little wind in my hair. its a little different from the romantic walks for two Jon and I like to take along the shore, but still fun :) and this trip Jon caught as many during the day as we did at dark. if you look close into the cup you can see 3. odd looking little suckers.
----
Jon asked my dad about Jamaica for next year... it could happen!
:)
