Summer Bucket List #4: Beach Bumming

For Father's Day weekend Drew was itching to get to the beach. We decided to just go for the day (3 hours each way), which is definitely the longer, cheaper way to do it, but equally as fun. We left pretty early in the morning and got back about 8pm, which left us 5 solid hours of soaking up the sun with an hour at the end at our favorite BBQ place for dinner in Richmond.

The more times we go to the beach as a family, the more we learn the ins and outs of how it should be done. The first time was when Makenna was 10 months old and we went to the Outer Banks. We showed up at the beach the first day without any toys or even a beach umbrella. We literally had 2 towels, a bottle of sunscreen, and some Diet Cokes (the essentials). The next time we got an umbrella and Dollar Tree toys. The next time we brought Makenna's princess tent so I could give naps in there. This time we were 90% of the way to "Beach Preparation Perfection." We invested in a little shade shelter, we've accumulated a fair share of beach chairs, and don't forget our great snack bag from Costco- free, when we signed up for their AmEx card. The only thing lacking was a boogie board, which the nicest people sitting next to us let us borrow for awhile. (I'll have you know we found some at Costco last week and will be 100% prepared for our next beach getaway.)

The girls had a blast; Addison on her chair, Makenna on the beach.

Within the first 10 minutes after our arrival, Makenna found a cute little friend whose family was sitting next to us. They were visiting from NoVa as well. They stuck like glue to each other the whole time and their little girl gave our little girl some much-needed confidence to get in the water. It was pretty cute.

Addison was left to her own devices with her sister off and running, but was perfectly content exploring the sand around her. Check out those chub-a-lub legs. I can't get enough of them. For the most part, she's slimmed down on the baby fat, but those ham hocks are adorably still in play.

Such a fun day. These sisters are so cute together and are beginning to have a lot of fun together. Addison thinks Makenna is the Last Comic Standing, constantly laughing at the littlest thing she does.

I thought it was worth documenting: Makenna taking care of business. She runs up to me, informing me of her situation. I tell her the ocean is as good a bathroom as she'll ever find. I think I forgot to mention the politeness of squatting.

We tried relentlessly, but to no avail, to get Addison to sleep in the little shade shelter we had set up. She wasn't having any of it. At 4:00 we decided to start packing up. Addison crawled up into her chair and after 5 minutes I realized she was really quiet. I found her dead asleep.

And 5 minutes after we've buckled them into the car...

Loved this day. Perfect start to Drew's special weekend. We've got a few more beach trips planned for this summer which I CANNOT wait for!

The next day we had a fabulous Father's Day. I made Drew a "Hero Box", complete with his favorite treats. I got the cute idea here. These girls love their daddy!