Beach. Friday.

Friday morning started off a little overcast, but we headed to the beach anyway.  The weather ended up being perfect, and we made the most of our last day of vacay.

Granti brought along some extra pancakes to feed the birds, so Harry and Babe spent some time doing just that before moving on to their standard beach fun of running back and forth in the waves, building sand castles and roads, exploring the deeper parts of the ocean with Ben, and generally having a blast in the sand and surf.

Harris had a great time getting buried in the sand...so much so that he asked Ben to do it over and over again.

He gladly obliged.

Around high noon, we headed to the pool.  Harris achieved his goal for the week and swam, on his own, from one of the far ends of the pool to the other.  It was awesome, and I could kick myself for not taking any pictures!!!  He was so, so excited, and Ben and I were so, so proud.  We couldn't wipe the smiles off of our faces.

Because he worked so hard and gave it his all, Ben told Harry he wanted to get him a special treat.  Harris requested a couple of Hot Wheels cars he'd spotted at the antiques store earlier in the week (they were from 1994 or something like that...), so the whole family showered up and headed out to grab lunch at Sandy Bottoms, swing by the antique store for the Hot Wheels, and check out a couple of other local stores simply for fun.

After browsing our little hearts out, we headed back for nap time before showering up and getting ready for our final night on the town.

We saved one of our favorite places, Brett's Waterway Cafe, for last.  The food is delicious and the location, right at the marina in the heart of downtown, is great, too.  We took a few family photos before stuffing our faces with shrimp.

Babe, of course, was over the moon excited about the "Rosie" (pink) shrimp.

It was a great end to a great week.

The kiddos chose to head back to the pool after dinner for one more night swim...they had to soak up as much jumping, throwing, and diving as their little bodies could take.

We all slept well, and we all left the next morning already looking forward to next year's trip.

There's simply nothing like uninterrupted family time.  Especially at the beach.

Beach. Thursday.

Granti, Ben, the kids, and I started the morning, per our routine, at the beach.  We had a great time!  Babe absolutely loves running back and forth from the sand to the water and spent tons of time pretending that she was either a) a teacher or b) participating in a parade. 

Harris spent most of his time playing with his sand truck and building sand castles, but he also figured out that he could stand up out in the "big softie waves."  I could hear him and Ben laughing from the shore.

When it got close to high noon, Granti headed indoors and our little family headed to the pool.  Harris earned himself a coke with dinner because he was able to retrieve his diving stick from 5 foot deep water!!!!  We were so proud and celebrated like crazy.  We headed out to Pompeo's for dinner once everyone was rested and dressed so my sweet boy could get his well earned treat.

 
It's been a couple of years since we've eaten at Pompeo's, but after last night's dinner, it's safe to say the place has earned itself a permanent spot on the vacation rotation.  It was absolutely delicious.

We headed to CVS for a quick M&M pick-up after dinner, and then simply hung around the condo until bedtime.  Granti bought Harry and Babe new toys while at CVS (a car wash for Harris and a fanny pack with pretend make-up for Babe), so the kids played around for a little bit while Auntie and DB got ready for the Harry Potter premiere.

Babe even lucked out and got a manicure and pedicure before bed!

There was a little talk at dinner of Granti being willing to try a different beach next summer, but Ben quickly put a stop to that.  He did, after all, buy an "AI" sticker for the truck.

We love this place.

Beach. Wednesday.

I'd say we've developed a routine.

Beach (and a bike ride for Ben).

Snack.

Pool.

Lunch.

Nap.

Dinner.

On Ben's recommendation, we chose Barbara Jean's.  It was AWESOME.  Delicious crab cakes, great vegetables, yummy fresh bread, and heavenly chocolate stuff.

After dinner, we grabbed our flashlights and headed out on the beach for a nature walk.

We spotted two large turtles in the sand dunes/nature area right beside our condo, quite a few sand crabs on the beach (much to the delight of the kids!), a couple of deer in the sand dunes/nature area on our way home, and tons and tons and tons of frogs.

I'm going to cry when we have to leave.

Beach. Tuesday.

Daddy and Granti headed out to the beach early Tuesday morning.  Daddy headed out on "Big Rhonda," the beach bike, and Granti set up camp and then enjoyed a walk herself.

The kids and I headed out a little later.  It was so nice to simply show up and have everything ready to go!

We enjoyed a super fun morning on the beach, full of waves, sand, toys, and boogie boards.

Ben and Granti even got in on the boogie board action!

And Hortie made his very first beach trip!  Hadley accidentally threw him over the balcony while we were putting our sunscreen on, so we picked him up on our way out.  He was lucky enough to get to tag along.

When we were all beached out, we headed in to join Auntie and DB at the pool.  Our pool time this trip has been filled with tons of swimming by Harris, and lots of "much high" throws and jumps for both kids.  Harry's even mastered the art of the cannonball!

Granti got concerned because we were out in the sun at "high noon," so we came in for lunch and naps.  And after naps, of course, we got cleaned up and headed downtown to check out a few stores and grab some dinner.

We decided to eat at Pepper's, a new Mexican joint downtown.  I indulged in some of the best vegetable quesadillas I've ever put in my mouth, but Auntie had a tough time with her meal.  The waitress finally managed to get Cassidy's dish to look like the picture in the menu. :)



After dinner, we picked up a few souvenirs (Harris found a shark shirt, Babe picked a mermaid shirt, and Ben chose a door knocker that says "Captain") before grabbing dessert at the ice cream shop.

We came home with full bellies and snuggled for a little bit before bed time rolled around for the kiddos.

And once bed time rolled around for the kiddos, Teen Mom rolled around for the adults. 

And the Teen Mom Adoption special. 

Ah, perfection.

Beach. Monday.

Monday morning started with a trip to Fort Clinch. 

The Fort is literally right behind our condo, and is a Union fort which reached its height around 1864-65.  It's actually a pretty cool place, but it's also really, really hot.

Auntie had a hard time with the heat.  She toughed it out, though, and we even made a trip to the Park Pier before heading home.

We made it to the "Flordia house" in time for naps and lunch.  Babe is loving her "beach room" (our walk-in closet) and has been a pretty good sleeper this trip.  Harry has, also...playing hard during the day helps a ton!

I was lucky enough to head down the pool with my Nook during nap time.  I fell asleep for about an hour, and it was soooooo nice to close my eyes and hear the sounds of children playing around me and know that I didn't have to open my eyes and look around because none of the kiddos playing belonged to me!  I got a great nap in and still had time to read...pretty good afternoon in my opinion.

For dinner we headed to Sliders, one of our favorite places from last year.  We had a perfect table right in front of the playground, so Harris and Hadley were in heaven.

After dinner (scallops!  yum!), we were able to get the kids to pose for one family pic before they made a beeline for the ocean. 

I love, love, love that they have such a great time in the water!

When we got back to the condo, Harris couldn't wait to get his little bootie in the pool, so we headed on out.  We spent the evening doing a whole lot of this:

Babe and Harris also took their kickboards to the pool and spent a lot of time practicing some skills they learned during their lessons.  I was SO PROUD of my little Harry, especially, because he swam from one side of the pool to the other all by himself.  Ben and Harris have been working so hard this week and it's really paying off.  Harry is becoming quite the little fish!!

We made it back inside and had the kids in bed in time for Ben to catch "The Bachelorette."  We also introduced Granti to "Extreme Makeover:  Weight Loss Edition" while snacking on mint creme oreos.

Not a bad way to end the day.