Addie Is Definitely A "Beach" Kind Of Girl.

Thre Of My Favorites - Aug. Beach Trip

Andy, Blake and Carter in the early morning sunrise.

These 2 could pass as twins in this picture!

Then and Now

Addie at 15 months - First trip to Port Aransas.

Addie at 27 months on her third visit to Port Aransas.

Siblings "Surfing"

Perhaps next year they will be ready to take it out to the first sand bar.

Blake Picking Up The Ladies On The Beach...

From a distance you would have thought Blake had a 8 week old black lab puppy tied to this old PVC pipe contraption.

Because with in a few minutes of walking up and down the beach, Blake had a following of a dozen women and kids curious as to what he was finding...

This "shrimp" finder had to be, hands down, the BEST toddler toy ever keeping their attention for HOURS all 3 days! After we would get a bucket full of shrimp, we would speed up the "circle of life" a bit and feed them to the awaiting sea gulls.

Blake got good exercise throwing the kids around on the boogie boards.

The Kids' First Bar Complete With LIve Music & Slushes!

After all our exploration, we decided to cool off with a cold slushy. It is truly a breath of fresh air to see the difference in the people of Port Aransas. Blake didn't have cash on him for the slushies and the man told Blake not to worry about it. After Blake ran to the nearest ATM and took the man the money he owed him, the guy was seriously shocked that Blake really went all the way to the ATM to get money for him. It happened with Kelly and I the night before while we were picking up some dinner as well! I doubt if the antidepressant market it too big in Port Aransas, TX.. it doesn't seem like they worry about too much at all! :)

This tonight, we will remember forever. The kids were both in GREAT moods after 4 hour naps. I wanted to go explore Port Aransas as I remembered it as a child and we stumbled across this amazing out door place next to Woody's. The band was doing a sound check and the kids were fascinated with them and loved making up as many games as we could including the bar favorite that had all the other guests entertained with C & A dropping a fishing line weight through the hole in the center of the table and getting it to land in the PVC pipe below... only in Port A right?!?

Looking at Boats, Sharks & Snakes

I remember spending lots of time down on these very docks and was excited for Carter and Addie to see all the boats. I was hoping we would get to see the afternoon fishing boats come in for the day with their catch but we were too late. Carter kept asking if there were sharks in these waters??

As we were exploring, we came across a coiled up snake. This was the reaction when they figured out it was plastic.

 

Looking for boats coming in and of course, for dolphins! 

Back To The Beach.

Early mornings are our favorite... we have the beach to ourselves. We get to choose the very best spot and just take it all in. I have to say that the beach is one of the "easiest" places to be with our 2 babies. No bickering or getting on each other's nerves, tons of different activites to do and at the same time, really nothing at all to do but enjoy each other. We really didn't have an issue of them wondering off and Addie really does a good job of not wading out into the water up to her head anymore. ;)

Then and Now

Beach - A Year Ago and Now
I love reflecting how how much my babies change in just a year's time. It is simply amazing yet bittersweet. Being back at the same place allows me to compare and it makes it quite fun. Here are a few of my favorites...

The main reason this trip was so incredible was it was just so laid back and easy... simple and fun... 2 things I want to get back to more with my family.

Tons of good ol' sand castle building.

We would even do "dinner time" snacks on the beach just to be able... 

...to have later dinners in the front yard...  

As Type A and planned as I am in 80 percent of my life, these are the laid back and impromptu coastal weekend memories I had growing up and I want to make sure that I am giving them to Carter and Addie. 

 

We will be back soon. :)