First Beach Trip

Let me tell you a little bit about myself and my family. Growing up in East Tennessee, you were one of two families. You were either lake people or beach people. (some, of course, were both) Lake people were great. I had loads of friends with lake houses. I would go with them on the weekends and play on their ski boats pontoon boats. We would water ski, inner tube, or knee board behind the boats. Once we got a little older, alcohol might have been involved and we might spend the better part of the day on the boats riding along the lake on a beautiful East TN weekend. My family, however, was a beach family.

We went to the east coast for as many years as we could remember. We went every single summer, sometimes multiple times during the summer. (My mom was a teacher so she had summers off). We went to Myrtle Beach alot as a kid (the northern non-redneck side, although there were still some). When I was in high school we bought a condo in Hilton Head, so that was then our place of choice. My mother is a self proclaimed beach bum and at a moments notice you could find her on her way to some beach. My dad now lives in Hilton Head and some in Florida as well. We were definitely beach people.

So, to say I was SUPER DUPER excited about experiencing my babies first steps in the sand was a BIG understatement. We had talked about the when, where, whys of when it was going to take place. Jake thought they were too young (again, not until they are 15, hehe). And honestly, our trip came as a last minute spur-of-the-moment type of thing. I had a chance to go and found a friend and her 18m son at the last minute and away we went, my nanny in tow.

We went down to the Orange Beach area and had a WONDERFUL time. The babies had a blast and were absolutely the most well behaved children ever. Honestly, I clearly took the neighbors kids because I didn't recognize them they were so great. We watched videos in the car on the way down and back and they didn't make a peep. They slept good, ate good, and loved every second of the beach. They loved playing in the sand. They loved finding seaweed and throwing it back in the ocean ("ByeBye Seaweed! See you soon!" - Josh and Jules). They also loved to stand at the shore and pick up the wet sand and throw it back in. They were honestly SO GOOD. When can we go back??? I was relieved, elated, and surprised by how great they were. I definitely have beach babies and I couldn't be more proud. YAY!!!

***prepare for crazy photo dump***