Beach Vacation No. 1

I haven't posted in awhile because life has been crazy, hard, and filled with ups and downs.  This post is difficult for me to write because this beach trip was a mix of joyful times with Hannah and Owen and deep sadness and heartache in quiet times as we all mourned the sudden loss of one of my best friends, teaching buddy, and mother to Hannah and Owen's best friend since babyhood, Avery.  Renee's spiritedness, joyfulness, and zest for life and all things fun was contagious and unmatched by anyone I've ever known.  I was blessed to be such good friends with her.  Unfortunately since my mind was preoccupied with other things the number of pictures I took of this beach trip was limited.  We also ended up leaving the beach 2 days early because we needed to be at home.

Hannah and Owen loved the beach again this year!  I was worried that now that they are more opinionated that all of a sudden they would decide they didn't like the heat or the sand, but they happily went and played everyday.  We usually have a blow up pool for them, but didn't even have time to get one this year and they never complained.  Owen loved loved loved playing in the sand.  He would scoop and shovel for hours.  He loved playing with his trucks and pushing all the sand around too as if he was making a road.  Daddy enjoyed playing in the sand too.  Most days we'd get to the beach around 10am and leave around 12:30 pm for lunch.  Hannah and Owen would nap and then we'd go back to the beach after naps.  Each night they just fell into bed exhausted!  It was really fun to watch them have fun.  I love going with family because Nana often played with them and I could just sit back and watch which is really fun for me since I'm usually always right in the middle of their play.

Now onto our beach memories from vacation number 1:

It was tradition as usual to stop at Morris Farm Market for a few produce items.  This is a great place to use up some time and burn some energy for Hannah and Owen.  They both enjoyed sitting on all the tractors.

We hit the beach as soon as possible on our first day in Duck:

 Owen loved the beach's life sized sandbox.  He would dig and play for hours!

Day 2:

 Hannah loved the water even more than she has in the past.  She would stay at the water's edge or in the water with daddy for hours.

 Uncle Jake and Owen had fun having races with each other on the beach.  We loved how much this tired Owen out!

 I have so many pictures from the week of Owen in this position.  He loved how the mucky wet sand felt in his hands.

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 5:

 Daddy knows how to make very cool tunnels in the sand!

Owen loves being able to play with his cars and construction equipment in the sand.

 Nana made a mermaid for Hannah

 Hannah and Owen love when Grandad brings Cooper to the beach!

 Daddy and Uncle Jake rented kayaks.  They proved to be fun and exciting for Hannah and Owen too!  They kayaks proved to be more fun on the sand than in the water.  Apparently they both had gashes in the bottom and so daddy and Uncle Jake didn't have too much luck keeping them upright for long in the ocean!

Day 6, Our last day:

 Nana and Grandad

 Owen makes a "shell" phone!