Beach Weekend

We spent the weekend at Surfside Beach with some friends. It was the first time in a very long time that we have gone anywhere just for fun, without visiting anyone. We had a great time just hanging out, relaxing with no schedule or obligation. It was Justin's first trip to the ocean, and I wasn't sure how he would do. I knew he would eat some sand, and he did, but he did better when he sat in the wet sand where the waves were hitting. He splashed and otherwise enjoyed the water. Here's some of the pictures:

The house where we stayed had a little pool table, and when we shortened the cues sticks, the kids did very well. Of course, they both won!

Here the kids are ready for the beach. On the walk to the beach Travis fell and rescraped his knee for the third time in about 2 weeks. The bad part was that he also scraped his stomach and the salt water kept stinging when it got in the scrape, so every half hour or so he would run over jumping and wiggling and ask for clean water to rinse off his tummy. Oddly enough, swimming fully immersed in the water didn't seem to cause a problem...

And here is enjoying the ocean. I introduced Travis to my favorite part of swimming in the ocean: Wave jumping! Our family loved swimming in the ocean, and as kids we really enjoyed jumping the waves as they rolled in to crash on the beach. Travis seems to be equally entranced by the ocean and sand.

No, Justin, not in the mouth! He didn't seem to mind the taste of the sand or the salt water, but he really didn't like me scrapping them out of his mouth! Justin enjoyed the water too. He watches everything intently and enjoys observing everything that is happening.

I just love this picture!

Later that night after dinner we taught the kids how to eat pixie sticks. Or we tried to teach the kids how to eat pixie sticks. They didn't quite seem to understand that they couldn't put the end in their mouth or the end would get clogged. I never really thought about how difficult that might be, but fortunately their ability (or inability) to eat pixie sticks probably will not affect their future success in life. Justin was just an observer. Maybe watching this once will give him a head start for his first real pixie stick lesson.

We did have to cut the weekend short on Saturday night because I have to work tonight (Sunday). But we all got some good sun and good naps on Saturday afternoon. So worth the trip!