Vacation Continued!

If you read the title of my last post carefully, you probably noticed that it said "Interrupted" rather than "Ended".  Did you catch that?  That's right, we spent 2-1/2 days at the beach, loaded up to get the boys back home for their all-star games & turned right around to head back to the beach for another 4 days, before leaving to play a ball tournament. The crazy things you do for your kids...that's all I can say!

We couldn't wait to get back to the beach!  Every night we went crab hunting & our first night back we noticed something all over Meg's feet when we got in the light under a pier.  It was oil :(  By the time we got back to our condo, all of us but Cole had it on our feet.  No big deal, it washed right off in the bucket that our condos provided. 

But then we woke up our first morning back to this {taken directly from our balcony}...

and this one directly from my chair on the beach.  Notice that the boat was close enough to see the workers.  This boat worked every day that we were there to SLOWLY put out the oil boom.

Even though, those boats were a sad sight, it didn't dampen our fun in the ocean in any way!

The waves were still aWeSoMe and the boys continued riding the waves on their boogie boards & skim boards even with the boat(s) nearby.

Meg continued to LoVe everything about the beach & most especially that same little yellow shovel!

My boys met a Mississippi boy who taught them how to catch sand-dollars.  They spent hours with nets catching them

and also all sorts of critters.

They shared the sand-dollars with their sister

and kept the critters for themselves {thankfully!}.  They dug in the water & in the sand

finding coral, big pieces of broken shells & made their own little biome.

After a long, hot sunny day we played at the pool a little.  All this little girl wanted to do was "jump, Daddy!"

At night, we found some new places to hang out...the Wharf was so much FuN,

but I think The Hangout was every body's favorite. 

Their fish tacos RoCkEd!!!  Meg liked them too!

Ben & Josh played in gigantic sand land, as I call it...gigantic sand pile, gigantic chairs & gigantic treasure chests full of sand toys.

Meg & Lucy Kate enjoyed dancing to the live music

and then these two realized that there was music.  This may be my favorite picture from the whole trip.  Can you just imagine him at a middle school dance in a few years :)

Meg thought it was hilarious too!

By the time this vacation {with it's interruption} was coming to an end, I think we had pooped out all the kiddos.  The last morning, Meg just laid under the big umbrella, saying "I go night, night" over & over again.

As this wonderful week came to close, I couldn't help but be mindful of all the people whose livelihoods depend on this tourist season.  As nice as it was for us, it was so sad that there were no waits at any of the restaurants.  Condo parking lots were practically empty.  I didn't have to wait in line at the grocery store.  There was the least amount of people I have ever seen on the beaches or in traffic, including when we have gone in the Fall.  It really breaks my heart for all the people this affects!  I just pray this isn't the last time I get to enjoy the beautiful beaches with my kiddos!