I have been dying over these vacation photos. They mark our first vacay as a family of SIX and Max’s official first trip and our annual trip down to the shore. Jeremy was so cranky waiting for the beach week to come and when it finally did, I was right there with him….we wanted a change of scenery at any cost. Well…little did we know that the car ride down would cost us our sanity. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Apparently we have a two hour car ride limit with the littles and they were very, um, vocal about wanting out. Weston especially. The kid has so much energy that being strapped down was nothing short of torture. For all of us. We even planned out stops every two hours (we call them “baby breaks”) and when they came, we all tried to breathe in as much non-screaming as possible. When we finally arrived…I think Jeremy and I had that look that said…yup, they broke us. they won. and we lost.
These were from a rest stop in Alabama. Weston can strike a mean pose (and yes, this is totally a pose…)
LJ is still learning the art of posing.
Those curls….
The boys loved this particular stop because it had big trees and we played hide & seek.
Catch that pose again?!
Will is the only one that really “gets” hide and seek. The others just run and hide whenever and if you say “where are you?” they immediately answer
Once we got to the resort, Gramps and Grammy were waiting to meet us. We checked out the condo where we stayed and then grabbed a lunch. The resort was a really kid-friendly spot and ended up being PERFECT for our little clan. I can tell you more later about the place because of you are heading to the gulf, this place is awesome. Trust me. We usually pick private houses but this was my first condo experience that I loved.
LJ loves feeding Grammy. Grammy I think is not as sure.
It didn’t take long for us to hit up the beach.
Will is such a pro now. He knows exactly what to do and is so EASY. I will have to remember that the tipping point is age five.
Weston loved it at first.
He totally followed Will’s lead. Going in the water, digging in the sand, jumping…
LJ acted like he had never seen it before….which I understand…it was pre-sitting up the last time he touched the sand.
But then things started to change with my little Munch. We could tell he was bothered by something.
When he finally lost it, we realized. It was his boo-boos in the salty water.
The shorts would get wet and then keep that stinging water on his legs. He had scraped his knees in our driveway a couple days before and now it was so painful. He would put up his hand and say “No BEACH. NO BEACH. NO!”
I think both Jeremy and I felt terrible about it and so Jeremy did his best to calm our little guy down. It’s gotta be tough to be two and really want to keep up with your big brother and not be able to. Heck…it’s tough to do that when you are thirty two!
Gramps & Grammy took over the other kids, I nursed Max and Weston was all Daddy.
Weston is SUCH a Daddy’s boy. It’s funny because they have this special little relationship that I never understood. I just didn’t get what I was doing wrong. I thought maybe he wanted Daddy so much because I was just not a good mom or somehow I rubbed him the wrong way. He would cuddle me but if given the option, Daddy was always his number one pick. But then LJ came along and now I have that with my third born. LJ is right now a mama’s boy and I soak it up like gravy on a biscuit. It was such a healing experience for me because I blamed myself for not being enough for Weston. But now I realize…it really doesn’t have anything to do with me or Jeremy….it is just how the boys were created. It’s an inclination that we don’t have control over but we do have the ability to provide for these little charges. Sometimes that means we give them exactly what and who they feel most comfortable with and sometimes that means we help stretch them and give them an opportunity to learn flexibility. Either way…Weston needed Daddy’s comfort in that moment…away from the brothers and grandparents and even mama. And I think I will frame this one for my boyfriend
Max at first was totally benign about the beach. I mean….just look at him.
Maybe even a little bored…
But then he quickly formed a solid opinion about it as a whole…
Apparently not his thing…
These crack me up.
LJ was slightly obsessed with the birds…
I was slightly obsessed with his hair
Will just continued on. He was one with the sand….
I think it was at this point Jeremy just was ready to go to bed. A day full of toddler screaming will do that to ya….
There are only about 2.3 million photos….
Seriously mom…what are you doing?
Eventually Weston perked up a little more and he started to enjoy it a little bit more. Poor thing. One day I am gonna look back at this and think….omg look at his little legs with the million bug bites and his sweet two year old belly
Seriously mom WHY!?!
On the second day of vacation, we learned that Weston loves being buried in the sand. We had bought some waterproof bandages for his legs and they seemed to help tremendously. He was like a different kid than the day before! I think most toddlers are like that though…they can flip that switch and suddenly the terrible-twos are a distant memory
This is normally how he is….spunky and mischievous 
I can list out the places we went to eat….they were The Donut Hole, Fudd Puckers, Harry T’s (this was new to us and the bacon wrapped crab stuffed shrimp was AMAZING), and this little local place called Taco Bell
The best part about the resort was the upper toddler zone. It was PERFECT for us. Since it was fully gated and the water was never deeper than 10 inches, we could let the little dudes play and we could actually SIT DOWN. like in a chair. on our rear ends. BLISS people BLISS!
Max joined us in his bouncer seat. When he finished his naps, we would change him and let him sit in our laps near a bubbler. It was so great.
The beach was definitely part of the routine but usually more of a morning activity. I loved that Jeremy captured some of the moments on the beach….
Overall…it was a great vacation and we couldn’t be more grateful to Gramps & Grammy who paid for the condo. We had so much fun (once we got those bandaids) and overall, the boys loved it (well….all but Max but his opinion doesn’t count….yet!).
I have so many more photos to share….I know that the grandparents want to see them all….so get ready because we aren’t done yet with our Gulf adventures
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