Well, it's (a wonderful) tradition now that we head to Florida the day after school gets out for a week long vacation at Cocoa Beach. Each year is a little different, but the beauty and calmness of the beach remains the same... and it's much needed family time and rest and relaxation!
This is the entrance to the beach from their condo...
Cole thought he was super cool in his shades!
This year we kept it simple, other than one shopping trip and some golf for the big boys, we did the beach and pool each morning and evening. Naps during the afternoon, including ME! We went out to have seafood one night and Grady had a golf lesson one afternoon.
The golf lesson was preceded by Goose tagging along with the big boys on their 18 holes that morning. He saw lots of wildlife along the way, including an alligator in the pond, some cranes and a turtle!
Sand Hill Cranes(I think)
momma and baby
Chris told us to make sure Grady stuck with golf and to nurture the hobby... needless to say, he is obsessed (yet again) and is requesting golf camp somwhere this summer.
He did really well, and "can knock the crap out of the ball" according to the grown ups who know about golf. It kind of makes me want to get back into it again... we'll have to see!
The kids LOVED the trip! Cole keeps saying now that we are home, "beach and pool pweeeaase" and Grady wonders why we don't have a beach here. They were in heaven!
Each day we dug Cole a hole and filled it with water - he had a blast playing in that hole!
Grady has always loved the water and been totally fearless. He remains this way, and this year was no different. He swam out in the ocean, boogie boarded, played baseball, built sand castles, collected shells and investigated local sea life. We even took a late night walk with Uncle Craig and saw lots of crabs, dead fish and some sand creations left by others. The sunset was just beautiful!
This is one of my very favorite all time pictures of G!
I kept asking Grady to hold Cole's hand, thinking that is might prompt them both to look and smile at the same time... poor G tries so hard and C wants nothing to do with it - ha!
They did have so much fun playing together... for brief periods of time!
We are all looking AND smiling, kind of... I'll take it!
Mimi was trying!
The beach was interesting and exciting for Cole this year. I looked forward to Cole playing happily and splashing in the water. Well, Cole is really into tantrums where he throws himself face down on the ground. Facedown + sand = unhappy little boy! We saw a lot of tantrums throughout the beginning of our trip and lots of nervousness with the water. Each day that passed he got more and more brave and by the end of the week we was playing and splashing waist deep in the ocean, digging in the sand, crashing sand castles, collecting broken shells and chasing birds with wet clothes! His vocabulary exploded while we were there as well, and Mimi and Papa think he's about the sweetest thing on earth... besides Goose as well! He also slept in a real bed for the first time while we were there, and has now transitioned into a big boy bed at home as well. My baby is growing up!
Such a "Cole" face with the furrowed brows and scrunched up nose, thinking hard about whether to laugh or throw a fit... LOVE this picture!
PURE JOY!!!
Cousin Julie took a few days off to beach-it with us... and we had the best time! The kids adore her and it just feels like she's one of the family. I'm so glad we got to spend lots of time with her (without getting her sick like last Thanksgiving :) )!
This one is going on the wall - LOVE it!
We actually put on some real clothes and I fixed my hair and put on make-up (for the only time that week) to attempt some family pictures. Mimi snapped about 100 pictures and we have a few that turned out really good! I also had fun taking some action pictures throughout the week of the kids... Beautiful scenery + cute kids = priceless pictures! Anything posed was out of the question, according to Cole. :)
The beautifulness even inspired me to run a few times... on vacation!
Running on the beach is much harder work... not to mention the humidity.
Papa and his little buddy - Cole adores my dad!
Thanks Mimi and Papa for another fabulous trip! We LOVE Cocoa Beach, but we love spending time with you all even more!!!
