Saturday, July 28, 2012

Beach Fun

Spending time at the beach is what I looked forward to the most.  It would get windy every day between about 10:30 and 5, so it forced me to go do other stuff too... had it been calmer weather I probably would never have left the sand.  As far as I can remember, Tyler had never been to the beach and it had been years for Marshall so we were all pretty excited.  The beaches by our condo were great.  Mellow waves with just the right amount of rock formations to keep it interesting and invite creatures towards the shore.  Snorkeling right off the beach was always fun.

On our first day the kids had a blast exploring these rocks since it was a bit too windy to truly enjoy all there was to do at the beach.

This is generally what I was doing.  Someone has to watch the little ones and make sure they stay safe... so I didn't get in the water as much as I would have liked, but it let me take plenty of pictures and video of the rascals being the coolest kids ever!

Tyler wasn't the biggest fan of the water... the waves made him a bit uneasy.  
He got very good at playing in the sand and teasing the waves then running away.

Marshall discovered boogie boarding and would have been in heaven if that's all he did for 10 days.  He got pretty brave and rode some big waves!  He only had a couple big wipeouts (one resulted in a massive somersault, a bloody lip and his head being drug along the bottom for a second), but he was so good at getting back out there and having fun.  He is getting to be such a big kid!

Marshall did great playing solo in those waves, but it was so much more exciting when Colby was out there to help him catch the big waves.  I just love the expressions on their faces in these pictures!

Look!  There's Tyler again.  Being three made Tyler plenty old to enjoy most of what we did, but there were a couple of times that his interest ran out pretty quickly.  Beach time was one of those things.  I love that he is pretty happy-go-lucky because he never seemed put out to be there once he was "done," he just found things to entertain him... even if it was just stealing my chair and laughing about it.

The boys having a grand, old time with Grandpa.

Early morning was my favorite time to spend at the beach.  Considering the time change, and the fact that my stomach has gotten large enough that sleeping is not entirely restful, I was wide awake by 6:30 every day.  I can't even tell you how many days I spent trying to get Colby awake and going so we could go down to the beach.  By the end of our vacation the little boys liked sleeping in too, so I had to do a little extra work to get us there, but it was so worth it.
I love the beach.  The sounds... the smells... it all brings me back to my childhood.  The only thing missing was an ice cream cone from Thrifty's once we were done (one of my favorite memories of my dad...).  We did, however, discover Local Boys snowcones that were delish!!!  Colby was hooked after his first one and it was great.

Another way the boys entertained themselves, and the rest of us, was throwing "mud balls" at the waves.  They'd make the biggest balls of sand they could handle and then bombard the incoming waves... with war cries and all.  They were like my brave little ocean warriors.  Haha.

I love how you can't go to the beach without burying each other.
This was Colby's sneaky way of catching up on his sleep while keeping Mommy happy and going to the beach.

Then the kids had their turn.  You can kind of see the remains of their sand angels too.

 Here's some more of Marshall boogie boarding.
I seriously had a hundred pictures of Marshall having the time of his life with that boogie board.

All those first beach pictures were from our time in Kihei, these next few were taken in Kaanapali while we waited for Colby to get done parasailing.  This beach had a lot of little pebbles that had washed up and the kids had the time of their lives throwing them at the waves instead of their "mud balls."

Tyler has become such a little goof these days.  He can be such a stinker, but he coats all of his obnoxious behavior in a thick layer of silly, so it's hard not to enjoy everything he does.  His latest antic is refusing to smile when he knows that's all we want to see.  I can't tell you how many times Grandma would approach him with a smile and a wave and he would just frown at her without a twitch.  (You should know that as I type this I can see him outside squirting a water gun at the kitchen windows and smiling from ear to ear taking great joy from his trouble making behavior.)

The word "boogers" still gets him to laugh almost every time.

He must have gotten unusually close to the water or really mouthed off to the waves to be laughing this hard as he ran away.  Watching him play like this made me miss being a kid so badly.  Running from waves just isn't the same as it used to be.

Marshall was just one with the water.  He had to be in it.
It makes me happy to see him like the same things I do since he is probably 95% his father's son.  The only things I am sure he got from me are his temper (oh boy!) and his appreciation of the chiropractor.  Colby just rolls his eyes and laughs when he hears Marshall talk about needing to go.  Haha.

Marshall was also pro at finding cool rocks, pieces of coral, and even a few shells while playing in the waves.  He really never collected them from the shore.  He'd just spot them rolling around in the waves and snatch them up.  I'm sure I carried five pounds of rocks and treasures in my purse on our trip home.

I love this last picture.  I have the best helpers in the world.  Love these boys.

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