The Beach

Oh, vacay - we miss you so!

We spent a week at the beach with Bill's sister and her family, PaPa, and NeNe - and it was fantastic.  My mom and sister were able to come for a couple of days at the end of the week, and that was an added treat.  The girls enjoy spending time with their cousins, and they love love LOVE to swim.

It seems that craftiness runs in my both my sisters' blood because Jennifer (my SIL) had crafts for them
to do throughout the week.  Our girls were in heaven.  They decorated beach cupcakes, designed sharpie tie-dye shirts, made a painting, put together stepping stones, built dinosaurs,

and painted glassware.

Espy, Gianna, and Isabella's most favorite thing about vacation was the swimming pool.  Most afternoons and evenings, they could be found there with The Husband.  Add in their cousins and Uncle Brian, and it was a pool party every time.  Annual water fights between Bill and Jen always provide great entertainment.

Evangeline fell in love with the beach immediately - the pool, not so much.  She was fascinated with the sand, the waves, the shells - everything.  My favorite was watching her run straight for the water thinking she was leaving me and her daddy behind - silly girl.

One day, we took three of the girls on a bike ride to get ice cream.  Our original destination was a little far, so we stopped at a place called Booty Treats instead - much to the girls' delight.

Booty Treats?!?  This place is called Booty Treats, Mama!

Isabella has declared her love for purple, and there's no going back.  At VBS, she cried when she realized she was in the red group - red is NOT her favorite color.  If given the option to choose her own outfit, purple is the immediate choice.  When we got to Booty Treats that afternoon,
she decided on a purple shaved ice - because my favorite color is purple

she told the man behind the counter.

The best surprise of our trip was when Bill and I ran out to get a few things from the grocery store.  When we got into his truck, Bill told me that he wanted to stop by Five Guys to pick up some lunch.  Sometimes we get so busy with the girls on vacation that we forget to spend time with each other - oops.  We just picked up a burger and fries, but that 45 minutes going to Food Lion and grabbing his lunch was enough to get us reconnected.  It's amazing how refreshing a little alone time with your favorite can be.

 

We had a great week with our family, and as always - it went by ridiculously fast.  My hope is that the girls quickly forget their momma's sassiness when things didn't go just so - instead, I want them to remember the laughs and happy times in the pool, at the dinner table, during water fights, at the dance parties, during our spoon games, and on the beach.  I know that I'll tuck those images of their little bathing-suit selves in my heart forever.