The Beach

Since Becca’s wedding was in Florida we decided to make it in to a mini beach trip. We left on Saturday which also happened to be Reese’s birthday. I felt bad that we were going to be in the car for a while on her birthday so we gave her her presents first thing in the morning.

After presents were opened we hit the road. When Taylor climbed in our car, Hayes started crying. He looked out his window, away from Taylor, for the first 30 minutes of the ride. It was too funny! He was not happy that she was with us at all.

Our friends Justin and Erica live in Alabama on the way to the beach so we stopped by their house for lunch. We picked up Chick-fil-a and took it to their house so we could stretch our legs while we visited. Our kids were so excited to see the babies and we just had to get a picture of Taylor and Taylor!

We got to the beach around 5:00ish. We decided to just eat dinner in the restaurant at our condo and then head out to check out the beach. We ended up getting a really great deal on the condo we stayed in because it was owned by Becca’s freshman roommate in college. Unfortunately it wasn’t directly on the beach but it had this really pretty boardwalk that led over a pond to the beach.

This was Hayes’ first ever trip to the beach. He really enjoyed it the first time he walked out there. He loved running in the sand and jumping the waves.

I think this picture below perfectly describes the week with Taylor. She was so much fun with the kids and jumped right in right away.

Earlier in the night Reese had called my parents and asked them to come over to our condo for birthday cake. On our way in to town we stopped by a Custard shop we knew of and picked up a cake. My parents, Becca and Tommy, and my grandparents all came over for cake and to celebrate Reese turning seven.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early. The plan was for all of our family to come to the beach near us for a family beach day. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating. It looked like it was going to rain all day and the water was rough so it ended up being just the six of us. There was a red and purple flag. This didn’t stop Lance, Taylor and Reese from going out in the water. They probably stayed in the water for an hour. Sam and I were not interested in that at first but decided to give it a try. As we were venturing out a huge wave knocked us down and threw us like rag dolls under the water. I am panicked as I jump up out of the water to find Sam. Once I see that he is above water and still has his float I reach out for him because he was scared. Then I realized my sunglasses had been lost in the water. I was so bummed but a minute later Taylor came out of the water holding them in her hand. She found my sunglasses at the bottom of the ocean!! Needless to say, Sam and I did not get back in the water that day.

Instead he was happy to play in the sand until we went to the pool.

Sunday afternoon Taylor took Reese to get a mani/pedi. Reese was in heaven!

Monday we woke up to bad weather. While we were lazy that morning, Taylor straightened Reese’s hair. It took her an hour and a half! They were so cute though. They listened to music, Reese looked at pictures on her phone, and just had some girly time.

After her hair was straight, we ran a quick errand, and then went to visit Leah and Susan’s new house. They just moved down there a month ago. We hadn’t been able to tell them goodbye so it was good to see them at their home. It was super cute house in a great area. After that we met up with my parents, Becca and Tommy, and grandparents for lunch at my parents condo. Taylor was so sweet to just be a part of the family. My mom took me, the kids and Taylor out for a ride on the golf cart. We drove through all of their complex and over to Baytowne Wharf. The kids had a blast and the weather was finally nice enough to enjoy being outside.

Monday night was the rehearsal dinner and then Tuesday morning was the wedding. Tuesday night we headed to Baytown Wharf for dinner and fireworks. We went to dinner at a restaurant we hadn’t been to before and it was good. Taylor and I ended up sharing a meal because we were both not super hungry. It turned out to be a great idea because the meal was huge.

Before dinner Reese had been debating about whether she would do the Eurojumpy, the zipline, or the obstacle course. The zipline got quickly cut from the list once she saw people doing it. Taylor told her she would do what ever Reese wanted to do so they did the obstacle course. They had so much fun and Reese loved having Taylor climb around with her. After the obstacle course, the boys rode the merry-go-round and then we waited on the fireworks. It was a fun night!

Wednesday was going to be our final day at the beach and the weather was perfect!!! The sun was shining and it was warm.

The flag was finally yellow so the water was pretty calm but there was so much seaweed. We spent a lot of time out in the water though and everyone pretty much enjoyed it. Sam was still a little timid and Hayes hated the seaweed touching him but overall it was a fun morning.

We were actually surprised at how long it took before the kids were asking to go to the pool. It was so funny to me that all of the kids enjoyed getting buried in the sand.

The whole week we just referred to ourselves as one big happy family. Taylor really was like a big sister to these guys the whole week. She was fun but didn’t let them get away with more than we would.

After lunch we put Hayes down for a nap. The three adults hung out on the balcony while Reese and Sam watched TV. Sam ended up falling asleep so us girls headed to the pool. We told Reese we were not getting in the pool and were going to lay out and read. She swam around for about an hour before the boys made their way out to the pool. Reese and Sam played for a little while and then were ready to go back up. Lance took all the kids back up so that Taylor and I could soak in the last rays of sunshine before our vacation was over. We had such a wonderful week and I am not sure that we can ever go on vacation without Taylor again.