We spent last week at the beach. And it was positively relaxing and refreshing and definitely not long enough.
This was our view for the week, and I'm quite certain I wouldn't mind if this was my view everyday! There's no filter here . . . it was just that stunning . . . the blues and greens and turquoise waters and snow white sand. The water was so clear the entire time we were there. You could see fish swimming everywhere. We even saw stingrays swimming a couple of mornings from our balcony.
Did I mention how amazing the water was?! We go to the beach every summer, and I think this is perhaps one of the prettiest summers we've had.
Our beach days have definitely evolved over the past few years. We used to do all the things - water park, outlet mall, dolphin and glass bottom boat cruises, boardwalks, putt putt. But now we do one thing. The beach. And that's it. We wake up, go to the beach, eat lunch, go back outside to the beach, go grab a bite to eat, go to sleep and then wake up and do it all over again. We played Uno and Apples to Apples every evening on the balcony. The kids didn't even ask to go play putt putt this year. We were just a bunch of beach bums!
This trip was definitely different in that it was such a stark reminder of how quickly Mason and Hannah Kate are growing up. Ellie, too, but especially the bigs. We brought our stash of beach toys, but gone are the days when they spend hours building and scattering a million sand toys everywhere. Most of those toys stayed in the bag this time. Gone are the days when they're running back and forth, back and forth all day long, and I'm having to chase them to keep up with them. I actually sat on the beach and read three books while we were there! Gone are the days of Mason diving endlessly in the waves and ocean water. Now they're content to sit and chill in their beach chairs all afternoon. It's actually a bit bittersweet. I think we're really about to begin experiencing the teenage years now. I'm glad this one still likes to chase the waves.
I took very few pictures on this trip. Hardly any to be honest with you. It doesn't help that two of them don't particularly care to have their picture taken anymore. One of them (who shall remain nameless) stayed in the ocean nearly an hour trying to avoid a picture. But I'm patient.
And so this was my view all week long. And what a view it was!
Seth lamented that perhaps time is drawing near when the bigs are "too old" to go on vacation with their parents. Nope. Never. I just think our destinations are going to become a lot more diverse now. We have quite a list.
