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| George, Lauren, Gracie |
After school ended, we packed five suitcases (along with most of our home) and headed to the beach for six days where the trio enjoyed the beach as well as some much-earned pool time.
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| Gracie |
After checking in and making the requisite trip to the store for provisions, we quickly settled into our routine of spending our morning at the beach, returning to the room for lunch and spending the afternoon at the pool.
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| Lauren and Gracie |
That was our routine for the entire trip, and the trio would have been happy enough to continue that exact schedule for the entire summer.
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| George and Skip |
We expected William George to have some reservations about the beach. The ocean made him nervous, what with its intimidating size and the sound of the surf, but he was happy enough on the beach. For the first three years of Lauren's life, she had an extreme aversion to the beach and would not allow her feet to touch the sand. George is following in Grace's footsteps. Although he is slightly less fearless, he bravely takes on the sand.
An older George would want me to add that we had red flags for the entirety of our trip. The water was rougher than usual, and the undercurrent was strong. I'm sure he would want me to point out that a strong undercurrent is significant when one weighs 25 pounds.
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| Lauren |
Lauren, on the other hand, has safely left her sand/beach issues behind. She practically rolled around in the sand, along with Grace.
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| Lauren, Grace, George |
William George stayed in our room, while the girls slept with my mom, who joined us on the trip. Our view was of the Choctawhatchee Bay, and one of our treats was getting George to say "Choctawatchee Bay" over and over.
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| George |
The duo hit the beach each morning as if playing in the sand is their vocation.
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| Grace |
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| Lauren and Grace |
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| Lauren |
They would have stayed in the blistering sun all day but for the need to get George and his fair skin back in the shade.
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| Grace |
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| Lauren and Grace |
By the end of the week, William George was an equal partner in the sand exploits. They were too busy running from the sand to the water to actually construct many castles, but they built some impressive sand mountains.
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| Lauren |
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| Lauren, George, Grace |
Mostly, they enjoyed putting sand in buckets.
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| George and Lauren |
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| Grace, George and Lauren |
And playing with water.
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| Lauren |
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| George |
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| Grace and Lauren |
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| Grace and Lauren |
While at the pool, William George was brave enough at the end of the week to jump off the side of the pool. His sisters were jumping in, and he quickly joined in the fun.
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| George |
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| George |
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| George |
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| George and Grace |
Upon leaving, Lauren burst into tears and said, "But I don't want to leave! I love it here!" Being the realists we are, we discussed real life versus vacation, and that all of the amenities we were enjoying would not be possible on a long term basis, i.e., even if we moved to a beach town (as was her fervent wish), we would not have regular access to the property, we would not live "on" the beach, and that life would return to normal immediately -- absent all of her friends and family who live close by.
When that failed to sway her, we simply asked, "Don't you want to sleep in your own bed and have all of your toys again?"
And then we were homeward bound.
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