We went to the beach the weekend after the fourth. The same vacation we did at this time last year. And thank god, this trip was less exhausting than last years. Though we did get off to a rocky start. Bedtime the first night was not great and the girls ended up only getting 8 (Hazel) to 10 (Haley) hours of sleep that night instead of their usual 11.5 – 12. So Saturday morning they were an emotional mess and I was seriously considering just going back home. But after a morning nap they seemed to rebound a little bit and after playing at the beach they were tired enough for a nice second nap. Huzzah! After that, I had fun.
The weather was so much nicer this year. It was sunny and mostly warm. It was really windy on the beach, which made it pretty cold, but the beauty of being a small child is that pesky things like water temperature don’t reduce you to a whimpering mess like it does to your parents. And we braved the icy water multiple times because Haley couldn’t get enough of playing in the waves. Which makes my heart so happy to watch. Which means I will gladly risk a limb falling off from exposure to play with her in the water.
Sweet, little Hazey wanted pretty much nothing to do with the ocean. It’s cold, it’s loud, she wasn’t having anything to do with it. But sitting in the sand with Gramma, Grandpa, and Charlie was totally her speed. And destroying Aunt Kathleen’s sand castles is always a good time.
Haley got buried in the sand. When I was little, my mom use to pack sand around our legs and shape it into a mermaid fin. The girls weren’t so into the sitting still thing, but maybe next year we can make them into mermaids. You know like I did here and here.
This picture is for anyone who says Haley looks like my side of the family. I see so much of Ken in her every day and this photo is perfect. She may be an emotional hot mess, like her mamma, 80% of the time, but she has a lot of her daddy’s focus, determination, and curiosity.
My mom bought cake cones and ice cream so the girls could have their first ice cream cones. I think they are hooked.
Not that I blame them. Ice cream is pretty awesome.
I guess this means I should bust out my ice cream machine and start making some homemade ice cream? Though I should probably keep this a Gramma isolated treat for now. If they start thinking they can get ice cream at home, they might be asking for it all day.
And yes, I did monstrously over-eat (again) because my mom makes good food and I like to eat good food. It’s a dangerous combination.
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