OIB - June 29.July3

After our camping adventure 2 weekends ago, we had our hands full with laundry and preparing for a beach trip this last weekend! We headed down to OIB on Friday after Reilly's VBS program and got down there about 4:30. Of course the kids wanted to go right out to the beach so we made a quick pit stop at Memama's house, got suits and screen on, and headed for a short trip out before dinner. Reilly and Braxton are at such perfect ages for entertaining themselves for HOURS on the beach!! And we are so grateful that Layton seems to be quite the beach bum himself! Luckily we got out to the beach on Saturday morning, while all the renters were packing up and leaving the island, so we had what felt like the whole beach to ourselves! There were great little tide pools all over the place and the kids just loved it! Reilly blew us away with her new found bravery in the ocean! I mean from jumping waves while holding hands and playing in the 2-3" water last year to full out boogie-boarding with the big breakers, body surfing, tumbling under the crashing waves and not.getting.out.of.the.water this year! It was crazy! She LOVES the beach! And, not to mention the difference in Braxton as well. He was all in the water and waves, getting knocked down and standing right up like a champ. He had a blast digging in the sand and playing in the tide pools, AND, finding any new friend he could...mostly the girls. He was quite a stud with his red "oakleys" on the entire time...just like daddy. Layton was right there with the big kids the whole time too. We were soooo grateful that he was so easy going with naps. Literally we would put him down for a short nap while we got on suits and sunscreen and lunches packed each morning and then he would last on the beach for up to 3.5 hours without being fussy at all! He loved playing in the sand, LOVED the tide pools and would just roll around, crawling everywhere, playing with the toys, picking up the sand, splashing the water, and then would just sit in his little chair and eat crackers while watching the scene. He was so content! It was sooo nice. The kids had fun with Memama on the beach and DeeDee too. Unfortunately, since Poppi just tore his meniscus and was on crutches, he had to stay inside with Uncle Brandon, who is still on crutches from his accident/broken leg so neither of them got to come out on the beach this time. We are also so blessed to have such awesome meals at Memama's house! Shawn and I were determined to have some Mexican food, so we did a meal for the whole gang one night that included chicken tacos and homemade guacamole. YUM! Before we left this morning, we even hit up some amazing (greasy, totally bad for you) breakfast at he pier....which might very well be a new tradition! The kids did NOT want to leave and could have literally stayed on the beach for the entire day each day we were there. Honestly, Shawn and I have never been "stay on the beach for 5 hours" kind of people, but the kids are making it so easy to do it that way! Love it. Fun times!