We made our annual beach trip this week. (first and second trips: http://adivaandadude.blogspot.com/2010/08/first-beach-trip.html and http://adivaandadude.blogspot.com/2011/07/beachgo-daddy.html ) This time we rented the house right next door to where we stayed last year. It is a bit newer and has an even better view than the previous place. The only problem this year was that there is a new house built a few feet behind it, and the new owners of that house have four dogs...two large and two small. Those dogs tried their best to ruin our stay, but in the end we managed to keep our sanity...barely...and still have a good time.
(View from our deck. Very nice except for the seaweed)
This was Riley's third trip to the beach and Jackson's second. We are pretty sure that Riley took on the form of a fifteen year old while we were there. Every day we were down on the beach she was looking around for someone else...anyone else...to go play with. She made "new friends" with several different groups, including a couple of teenage (or close to it) girls who actually let her hang around them for a bit, which I am sure made her feel like she was the "big kid" she talks about becoming. But the one she enjoyed playing with the most was a little boy named Sam and his family from Kansas City. They showed us where to find hermit crabs out in the water, so that made for some fun catching dozens of those and digging a pool for them in which to swim/walk around for a while before we tossed them back. I am sure we enjoyed that experience more than the crabs.
(Crab fest)
(Riley off in the distance playing with new friend Sam and family)
When Jackson first walked out into the water, he stood there as the waves rolled in around his legs and said "whoaaa" over and over. Overall he wasn't too sure about the water, but seemed to warm up to it as the days passed. One thing he did do plenty of was push his yellow dump truck all over the beach, and the house, and the deck, and anywhere else he could push it. By the last day he was pushing it out into the water...but he pushed it too far and got knocked down by a wave, and he was none too pleased about that one. I introduced him to mine and Riley's wave-smashing fun where we go out to where the waves are breaking and let them break on us. After a few waves he was good to go, but of course he was soon ready to go back up to the beach to see mommy. Riley loved it just like she always has. This year she was pointing out the "good ones" that were coming toward us. She saw some girls body-surfing and wants to do that when she's a "big kid". She wanted to do it right then, but of course that was not going to work out very well at this point.
(Jackson wondering who this Sam kid is and why he's taking off with his truck)
Aside from those annoying dogs, another negative we had this time was seaweed. Lots of seaweed. There is always some seaweed in Galveston, so no big deal there. But this year had apparently been the worst that anyone down there could remember, and it was evident by the amount piled up on the beach. Much of the beach had been cleared, but the homeowners where we stay elected to leave it to help with erosion control, but also I am sure to save money. The result was a 15-20 yard wide swath of thick, black, decomposing seaweed. Even digging into the sand on the section of the beach which was clear did not avoid it because once you dug a few inches down the sand was solid black from all of the seaweed which had been there earlier...and it smelled terrible. We managed to get around it by just setting up camp closer to the water, and of course when the tide went out that was an even better solution because we then had plenty of beach free of the whole seaweed issue.
We battled non-stop runny noses the whole time we were there, as well as some cranky moods...especially on the part of Mr. Jackson, but Riley had her fair share as well. Hers were mostly saved for the house though, while his were on display for all to see. He was definitely happy to get out and play on the beach, but he went through quite a few phases of just wanting to be held. On the last day he had a full-on meltdown that lasted for a good 10 minutes at least, so Melissa took him back up to the house...where it continued for at least another 10-15 before he finally calmed down. Part of it was no doubt due to not getting very good (or very much) sleep in a new place...with barking dogs.
One thing that they both enjoyed, but especially Riley since she could get involved more, was feeding the seagulls. Even though the "rules" of the beach house ask that you not feed the gulls from the deck, we of course could not resist. On the final day Riley fed them while we were on the beach and had one particular bird that flew a little too close for her comfort. So she backed up...and he moved forward...and she backed up...and he moved forward. It was pretty funny, and she finally threw him a cracker to get him to back off. Even though Jackson could not feed them as well, one thing he could and did do well was chasing them down on the beach. It was fun watching him run after one and watch it fly off, then set his sights on another and take off after him with the same result.
(Riley snapped this one)
(Lovely black sand from the seaweed)
We are already thinking ahead to next year and the fun that we will have then . We may venture a little further south to Padre Island...maybe. Still won't be quite ready for a longer trip to Florida, but that trip is not too far off either. Personally I could have stayed down there a few more days, but it was obvious that even though the kids were having fun, they were ready to get back to their own rooms, toys, and animals. Jackson especially was most excited to see the animals, and Riley was most excited to be able to sleep in her own bed so that her pet fish and frogs could keep her company at night. So even with the dogs...the seaweed...and the cranky moods...we all still had a great time and made many great memories again.
A few recent non-beach pics
(Jackson enjoying his first pickle)
(Riley snapped this one)
Last but not least, perhaps the most amazing thing of all about this trip:
Never, ever before this have they both fallen asleep at the same time in the car. On a long road trip, this little moment right here is almost priceless.
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