This week was all about vacation, with Ella's 7th birthday thrown in the mix as well.
The kids never quite adjusted to Central time, so they were up extra early every morning. Claire loved all the sundresses I packed for her and so she would waltz into our room every morning at 6am fully dressed, even though she would inevitably just be changing into a swimsuit a few hours later. We started calling them her "morning dresses."
One day at the beach we caught a bunch of these tiny clams.
The best time to find them would be right as the water receded… you could see them trying to dig themselves back under the sand.
Ella and Claire observe the clams in the little habitat they created for them. Ella was disappointed that we couldn't bring them home with us to keep as pets.
Ella is very adventurous at the beach. She loves getting in the ocean as far as she can go and riding the waves. She spent a lot of time with Matt in the water.
Claire kept busy at the beach, but didn't really like to get very close to the water. That's why she was always absolutely covered in sand by the end of the day.
Claire spent a lot of time making various sand pastries, like this cake.
Due to her continued sand phobia, Lucy spent most of her beach time sitting in a chair and eating snacks. The first thing she said every day when we got to the beach was: "Want sit down. Want snacky!"
She did have a few brave moments when she ventured out onto the sand, with her shoes on of course.
Lunch break.
Sandcastles.
In the afternoons, we headed to the pool. Lucy insisted on carrying this thing with her to the pool every single day, but never actually used it. By the end of the trip it was completely mangled and deflated from being dragged on the cement.
Matt and Lucy took turns blowing bubbles in the pool.
A little bubble blowing video. My favorite part is when Lucy pats Matt on the head and says "Good job Daddy!" You can also hear Ella giving Claire a swimming lesson in the background.
We didn't see many seashells at the beach except on the last day when it seemed like they all decided to wash up on shore at the same time. Matt, Ella and I had a great time seashell hunting…
… while Claire was in charge of carefully cleaning and organizing them.
I also managed to catch this crab on our last beach day. He was not pleased at all about being trapped in here. I let him go after just a few minutes when I was pretty sure he was going to jump right out of the bucket and claw my eyes out. The sea star that a fellow beachgoer found and gave to my girls was more our style.
A great way to end our final day at the beach.
Of course, our vacation would not have been complete for Ella without a trip to the go karts.
And here is the girls' favorite vacation restaurant. Apparently, they make the best spaghetti with butter around.
An evening walk on the beach… Lucy has to be carried the entire time.
Some family shots on our last night.
The day we flew home also happened to be Ella's birthday. The same thing happened last year and I was starting to feel a little bad that her birthday was being overshadowed by traveling for a second year in a row (even though she did have a birthday party planned for the following weekend), so I did my best to still make her day special. The night before, Matt and I blew up a bunch of balloons and put them in her room to surprise her when she woke up.
We also got birthday doughnuts from our favorite local bakery, The Donut Hole. We sang Happy Birthday (adding "cha cha chicken" after each line, as requested by the birthday girl) before she blew out her "7" candle. Then to top it off, we stopped off for one last go kart ride on our way to the airport. We got there right as the place was opening and we had the entire track to ourselves.
Then we got on a plane and reluctantly headed home (I was truly not ready to leave). Matt and I were really nervous about flying with Lucy after our experience flying to and from Disney last September. Matt will freely tell you that it was one of the most stressful experiences of his life – Lucy can put the fear of God into you when she decides to scream. But I have to give Lucy credit; she was a great little traveler this time around. Maybe we will attempt that West Coast trip this summer after all.
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