Beach Collage 2012

Go Team Littlebit

So, the kids were playing tag one afternoon and the adults were sitting in the grass watching them.  Suddenly, one of the adults got the bright idea to go out and chase the kids around a little.  Then another adult joined in (and then another and another).  Before we knew it, there were lots of 20 and 30-year-olds playing tag with the kids (aka "team littlebit").  It was kind of fun.  It would have been even more fun if Brian wouldn't have kept shoving me at the kids so that I would get tagged and he wouldn't.  I think the kids loved that we played with them. One thing is for sure, playing tag is tiring. 

Pier Pressure

What makes the condo complex where we stay superior to all others?  That would be the private fishing pier.  It's not uncommon for the boys in our family to "disappear" during fishing beach week.  They'll fish all night and sleep during the day.  If we want to see them, we pretty much have to walk down to the end of the pier (or just wait until it's time to eat).  The fishermen are usually pretty good about letting the kids help out with the fishing.  The kid jobs usually include reeling in the line and putting the fish in the cooler.  All of the kids got to fish a little this year, and they all caught a fish.  Olivia even caught two on one line.  Owen seems to like fishing a lot, and I predict that when he gets a little older he'll be joining his daddy on the pier for longer periods of time.

We Have Swimmers

 The kids have come a long way with their swimming since last year.  Coming into the week, we knew that Ava and Olivia could swim.  Claire surprised us all when she started swimming on day 1, and Natalie was swimming by the end of the week.  Those girls were all over that pool.  They swam in the shallow end.  They swam in the deep end.  They swam in the morning and at night.  They were diving down in the water and turning flips.  I guess it goes without saying that we spent a lot of time at the pool.  While the girls where swimming all over the place, Owen was practicing his signature "back float".  He's not quite ready to swim yet, but he'll get there.

Cousins

Olivia and Owen love spending time with their cousins, and they all get along very well.  These kids had so much fun playing together at the beach last week.  Pictured here are Claire (4), Natalie (4), Owen (4), Ava (6), Julianna (10 months), Olivia (5), and Audrey (2).

Boogie Boarding

It's official: boogie boarding has replaced digging as the kids' favorite beach activity.  These future surfers spent a large portion of their beach time riding the waves- and not just the little waves either.  They were catching the big ones.  Of course there were several wipeouts, but that did not seem to deter anyone.  The only person who seemed the least bit nervous was me. ( I was worried that the kids were getting out too far into the ocean.)  Toward the end of the week Uncle Sam tried to teach the kids to skimboard, but they didn't have much luck with that.  Maybe next year.

Beach Vacation 2012

We have just returned from another great week on Amelia Island.  I have decided that if I ever win the lottery I am going to buy a condo right on Fernandina Beach and spend the entire summer there.  I love the beach- this one in particular.  The next few posts will be about our vacation.  We took a ton of photos. I'm still trying to sort through them, but I'll go ahead and post my favorite pictures of Owen and Olivia.