Typical Beach Day!

BEACH BUM!!!!

We didn't do exactly the same thing every day all week at the beach, but most days did have a pretty similar routine. Every day started with Levi waking up around 6:30 a.m. For some reason, we really didn't mind. I guess because when you have a 1 1/2 year old wake up with such excitment and love for life that it doesn't matter what time it is. Normally Levi doesn't wake up too happy at home, so we took it while it lasted. It was funny to hear what words he said each particular morning. Some of my favorites were "BEACH" "WAVES" "WOOSH" "PINCHERS" "BIG ONE" "SEAHORSE" and on the morning after we took him on a carasel ride, the words were "ROUND AND ROUND" "OSTRICH" "LION" "DUCK" "ZEBRA" (because he rode on them)! On the first morning in our bed, we asked him "Levi where are you??" Without any hesitation he answered matter of factly, "OHIO!!!!!" The child has only ever slept over anywhere at grandma and grandpa's, so you can't really blame him! So one of us would go and get him and bring him to our bed, and usually by 7 we'd all get up and turn on the Disney Channel and eat breakfast. Thank goodness for Mickey Mouse, Little Einstiens and Special Agent Oso!! By 8:30, we were out at the beach and we'd stay out till 11:30 or 12:00 before heading in for lunch.

In the mornings at the beach, Levi liked playing with his trucks in the sand. We would make ramps and roads and hills for the trucks...they lasted all of 10 seconds before getting demolished by the destructive feet of a wild toddler named Levi.

Every morning sesssion at the beach consisted of a big snack time for Levi. I'll never forget on one of the days, we had gotten out to the beach around 9 that day, after Levi had eaten a whole banana and a bowl of cheerios for breakfast. He was super super fussy that day and kept whining for no reason. I asked him what he wanted, and he said "CHICKEN!!!" It was only 10:00 a.m. for heaven's sake!! He followed that up with "BROCCOLI" "YOGO's" and "SNACKS!" So within the next 10 minutes he ate all of the snacks that I had packed him for the whole day!

It was a challenge getting his hands cleaned off from the sand. He didn't seem to mind at first to just eat the sand, but as the week went on, he got more and more picky about it!

So I finally figured out, to put a towel over his lap after I got him cleaned up...and that would allow his hands to not get so sandy while he was eating!

Life is GOOD!

Eating...AGAIN!!

He really did enjoy just sitting under the umbrella on the blanket, eating his snacks and watching all the people walk by! He flirted with every girl and woman, no matter what their age!

We thought we could get him to take a nap on the beach...WRONG!!! Although, after the salt water incidents he would enjoy getting his "puppy" (his pacifier), and get wrapped up in a towel and take a "rest" in the shade. It seemed to make him feel better every time!

It was nice just to be able to leave all of our chairs and stuff at the beach and walk back for lunch. After lunch every day, Levi would take a nap, and somedays we did too. It was nice to be able to relax a little bit inside and rest up.

Some days we would go back out to the beach after naps, or we would hang out around the pool. On the days we ate at the condo, I would head in early to get dinner ready while Anthony and Levi stayed outside and played. After dinner we either would do the beach again, or the pool, or go out. I will write more later about what we did on the nights we went out...which were a BLAST!

Anthony would ask Levi which way he wanted to run, and Levi would point in both directions and say "THAT WAY". The two of them played lots of chase at the beach! I loved watching!

For some reason, Levi got a kick out of sticking his head in the water!

Just a snapshot...

Then usually around 8:00, we'd give Levi his bath and put him to bed, and we had a few hours to hang out....watch TV or sit on the porch and listen to the waves come in. My favorite was the last night when another hurricane (Danny I think it was) was out at sea. The lightning was something to see!! Unlike most storms here at home that come and quickly pass, this lightning just hunkered in for a few good hours. It was an incredible sight to see over the ocean!

So on day 2 at the Ocean, the waves had died down from Bill, but the weathman still suggested that you only go knee deep because of the strong rip currents. That intimidates me!! So that day we played in the sand a lot and attempted to build a sand castle. We hunted for shells, and everytime Levi would find a shell, he would yell out "TREASURE!" Right before vacation we had gotten into Geo Cache'ing (sp?) and Levi LOVED to find treasure...so I guess to him, it was sort of the same thing. Only hunting for shells on the beach is a lot easier...which is maybe why he enjoyed it so much.

Hunting for shells....TREASURE!

Anthony would get Levi to go out into the water and would teach him to jump over the waves and to punch them. As they ventured a little further out, Levi got more and more comfortable. At first, Levi was holding onto Anthony for dear life with a death grip. But after no more than 5 minutes, Levi was pulling away saying "Lala, Lala" (which is what Levi calls himself...weird I know). He wanted to get down in the water by himself!!!! He really enjoyed running in the waves and splashing with his feet. That is until one little drop of water would get into his eyes. He must take after me....I can't handle the salt water getting into my eyes either. It was over after that!

So on this blog, I've included a lot of pictures of Levi playing on the beach....I am going to post another entry of just pictures because I am running out of room on this one. Stay tuned...

NEXT POST (after the pictures): Mommy's memories of the Beach!