Beach Vacation

 Last week we thoroughly enjoyed a few days together at the beach.  As soon as we checked into our little condo, Jonathan declared, "Mommy, this is a nice, huge, enormous vacation.  This is my favorite vacation ever!"  We realized a few minutes later that he might be so taken with the trip in part because the kids had picked out their souvenirs at the local Walmart before we'd even arrived at the condo!  Jonathan's dinosaur water gun and Abby's Disney pink flippers were a big hit at the pool that afternoon.  Jonathan has taken to swimming much more this summer, and he practiced swimming with David for a good part of the first afternoon, when they weren't engaged in a water gun fight.

No sooner had we arrived at the condo than it was time for a snack.

That evening, Jonathan made friends with the 6 year old boy on the next balcony, who kept begging Jonathan to toss him some of his nachos ;)  They talked back and forth and laughed through most of dinner.  Something about the little impromptu friendship made Jonathan seem just a little bit bigger.

The morning sunlight was bright and beautiful, streaming in from the beach just across the street.

Breakfast time!

Joshua then played on the deck with Daddy while I got roped into a game of hide-and-seek in the teeny tiny condo.

After a few silly noises, I was found in the bathroom closet ;)

More breakfast!  That's what vacation's all about, right?   Mmmm, breakfast tacos.

Off to see Dinosaurs at an amusement park nearby.  See my brave dinosaur riders?

This dinosaur was looking pretty meanly towards David.

So Abby gave him a good scare.

Jonathan wasn't feeling quite as aggressive.

And Joshua just giggled away in the stroller.

I absolutely LOVE this series of shots of David after lunch that day.  THIS is vacation.

Then, it was off to the beach!

Amusement park on the board walk

This ride was seriously not high, but from their expressions you'd think it was terrifying!

Apparently they both really love driving bumper cars!

Abby, not tall enough to ride, just watched.

Afterwards, her daddy took her on the carousel,

which they both enjoyed.

A stop off at NASA...

the kids were mildly interested in space ships and rockets, but they REALLY loved the NASA Johnson Style music video playing on all the flat screens around the complex.  They're begging to watch it again and again on YouTube!

Vacation with kids isn't necessarily relaxing.  No, in fact, it requires a lot of effort with all the packing and living out of suitcases.  It's largely day-to-day parenting, the same conflicts, challenges, and even tantrums, with a change of venue.  But spending these days together, all 5 of us, made for a really, really great week.