Beachin It, 2013

So after the chaos that we have been experiencing for the past few months (moving/complicated house sale/and baby Abby's arrival), it was about time that this family took a week away just to spend time as the five of us!  We have to give my grandma a HUGE thank you for letting us spend a week at the beach house in Emerald Isle, NC (my favorite favorite place on Earth!) before Chris headed off to DC for our next family life adventure.  

It was the perfect week for our family.  There is VERY limited Internet, television and.....(this is HUGE), Chris didn't even have his cell phone with him.  WHAT?!?!  Chris has always had to work on our vacations (just the nature of his job), but since he was transferring jobs, he officially had handed in his cell phone and computer before vacation but had yet to start his new job so he was phone less.  It was fabulous!!!!!

We spent a lot of time at the beach just soaking in the ocean view and playing in the sand all day long.  Chris and I were a bit apprehensive how the boys would be as the year before Andrew was terrified of the ocean and Aiden wasn't  much better.  And we didn't have a third child at the time either.  

But, this year was great.  I have to say the boys still were pretty fearful of water (Andrew's toes never hit it and Aiden was apprehensive staying just at the very's water edge), but the sand was enough to keep these two busy.  Andrew LOVES LOVES LOVES to dig and this giant sandbox was amazing to him.  (He even asked me today when he could have a sandbox.  We had one at our old house and he told me all about he wants one to dig and drive and dig and drive.  He would spend hours in it.  I just can't decide which one to buy, but I better get on it because this boy is ready for his sandbox!)  

Aiden stayed busy chasing around his parents, building sand castles, jumping in the water, looking for shells, and playing with his brother.  He had to be like his Daddy---if Daddy wore a shirt, then he did.  If Daddy was shirtless, so was Aiden.  If Daddy had sunglasses on so did Aiden.  A week with his Daddy was just what this boy needed...

  

Abby was a great beach baby.  She either was eating, watching, or sleeping.  The easiest beach baby ever...

 

I will share a few more pictures in the next few days, but this family vacation is just what our family needed.  Some time away from life to relax and make some special family memories and there is no better place to do it than at the beach.