BEACH TRIP

We have returned from Pawley's Island, the lovely beach house and our much-anticipated escape from the daily grind... in need of a vacation! While we enjoyed the change of scenery and the camaraderie, Graham (nicknamed "Hurricane G" for much of the trip) took us for quite a ride. Our little boy, who spends much of his days talking about water, looking at pictures of water, playing beside water and throwing objects into water, HATED the ocean! The awe he felt last year was replaced by fear and pictures you will see of him playing on the beach were taken after 30 minutes or so of coaxing, begging and bribery. Taken out of his comfort zone, our normally predictable child became a storm of hour-long tantrums and persistent irritability. We're now back in our structured world of "home," complete with walks, Yellow Bucket, White Car and predictable behavior. Hopefully, we left the fits back at the beach house where we'll most likely meet up with them again next summer. Enjoy the pictures!

Here's Graham's post at the walkway to the beach...
Clara playing in the sand with her daddy...
Finally, the offering of snacks brought G onto the sand this first day...
A fountain! Now that's better!

Grahamy giving Daddy a push...
Clara's turn...
Eating out...
After using every trick in the book, Daddy finally managed to get Grahamy on the beach for some soccer...
Beach soccer!


Clara playing in the waves with Charlie...
Clara loved the ocean!
Looking for rocks or shells...


Throwing shells into a puddle...
A bucket and rocks... Bliss!!!

BEACH TRIP cont.

An afternoon at a local boardwalk...
Feeding some ducks and ENORMOUS fish...



The boys after a morning of golf...
Breakfast out one morning...
Graham stacking jam after breakfast...

BEACH TRIP cont.

Grahamy!
Papa and Graham looking for rocks

Nana and Papa came down Wednesday evening and spent the last leg of our trip with us... thankfully! Otherwise, our vacation would not have been a vacation at all.

Graham's rock...

Papa and Graham...

Our walk down to the beach (about a block)... too long for little legs...

Nana and Graham waving to the ocean...

A motion shot of Graham and Clara playing ball...

Five months apart and they could almost be twins!!!

Nana and Graham checking out the water...

The whole gang...

Our little fam...

A group shot... including Graham's back...

BEACH TRIP cont.

Graham laughing at some cows in a local zoo/wildlife preserve...
Graham and Papa walking through the raptor center...
Nana and Graham examining their collection of rocks, of course...
Graham carefully avoiding the turtles in the little pond...
LAST ROCK!!!

Graham and his rock...

We're leaving for our beach vacation this Saturday, so check for pictures in a little over a week. Graham has been counting down the days (literally) and we are all ready for a break! Here are a few pictures of the same-old-same-old...

My outside boy... Still a fan of the water, bucket and everything that fits inside...

Hall Soccer with Daddy...

J-U-M-P SPELLS JUMP!!!

Here, Graham is demonstrating two of his new favorites: jumping and spelling! He loves to pile his "amimals" onto his mattress and then jump and watch them bounce around. He also shares the family infatuation with words. He learned his letters quickly and has memorized an astonishing number of words. He loves to say "j-u-m-p... JUMP" while he is jumping. We spell continuously throughout the day. We spell the names of our family members, his animals, our food, the places we visit and it is amazing to see how much he retains. Graham has earned the nickname "Dennis-the-Menace" due to our daily struggles over his mid-day nap, but he continues to amaze me with his focus, humor and patience.