the first beach trip of the year

We've been traveling fools lately!

We just got back from a few much needed days at the beach. Jim had a business meeting there and the girls and I were able to tag along for a few days. The first day - i had the girls to myself and the weather was a little iffy. Cold and rainy to be exact. We tried not to let it get us down. We bundled up and headed down the beach to explore for the morning. After all- it was Baby Caroline's first trip to the ocean! We needed to make the most of it and were certainly not going to sit inside!

This first picture is of some birds hanging out in the tall grass near the condo. Maddie thought they were really neat and wanted me to take a picture of them. She was right- they were cool!

Despite the crappy weather, there were quite a few people walking the beach. Most everyone was bundled up- minus a few Canadians wearing shorts.

Maddie was a little timid of the water at first but she kept her distance until she got more comfortable. Baby Caroline had a pretty comfy ride and didn't make a peep the entire time. She just took it all in.

By the end of our excursion, Maddie was ready to dig her tootsies right into the sand. She asked me if she could take her shoes off, then sat right down and took them off all by herself like a big girl! Have I mentioned she's the cutest thing ever?

Although juggling two little ones all day long was tiring, I had such a fun time with them. Caroline is an angel, and Maddie was so entertaining. We had lunch together in the room, both girls took a nap and then we did some shopping at the outlets before picking up Daddy. Shopping entailed spending 45 minutes in the Disney store looking at every last piece of merchandise they had. She spotted a "Cindalella" bank, took it down off the shelf and held on to it the entire time we were shopping. It was on massive sale so I went ahead and bought it for her. She LOVES her. She carried it around the rest of the trip and whats nice is that its got a built-in incentive... if she's good, she gets money to put in the bank. Why didn't I think of this sooner?

The next day, the temps were up, the sun was out and Daddy was with us - so we hit the BEACH! YAY!!!

Maddie swam in the pools and loved walking and playing in the sand.

Baby Sister was into taking glamour shots on the beach. She posed like this for what seemed like forever. This was her "pensive" look.

...until she fell over. I like this shot because it shows the scene. Maddie with a diaper full of sand with her favorite playmate Daddy and Baby Sister relaxing on the blanket in the shade.

I'm excited for this summer and hope we get to the beach a lot! Now that the drive isn't quite as long, I think we'll there more often.

Looking at these pictures of my beautiful family and this beautiful place makes me realize I have the most wonderful and blessed life. Don'tcha think?