Our vacation rolled right along with more days in the sun and sand. Tan lines were abound, most especially Maggie's. We were all in down right amazement of how brown that girl can get. And if I'm being completely honest, a tad bit jealous.
We had just as much fun inside as we did outside. We played round after round of UNO {with Daddy being the reigning champion} and enjoyed a few family movie nights. My favorite being Homeward Bound. An oldie but a goodie.
One of the many things I did enjoy about our pink beach house was waking up to the sound of Daddy reading the girls books in the children's loft. The girls spent countless hours playing up there and so preciously called it "the book fair".
Around mid-vacation is when I noticed Lucy wasn't quite herself. The girls and I spent the morning at the pool while Jack and Daddy visited a near by water park with the big cousins.
It's when this happened that I was certain something wasn't right. Lucy never misses a party and most especially never falls asleep right in the middle of one.
From there she came down with a fever. Post nap, she was a sweltering 103 degrees. Conveniently, the car was gone {at the aforementioned water park} and conveniently the nearest kid doctor was two miles away and even more conveniently the temps outside were over a 100 degrees.
I had no choice but to saddle my girls up on the bike and go see Dr. Smilely {and I'm not even kidding...that was his name}.
There is no better place to show up with near heat exhaustion than a Drs office, I suppose. I doused myself with cups of water when we arrived and ironically held a human heat source to my body while trying to cool off.
The things we do for the love of our children. I'm so glad I made the decision to do so though. My poor Lu had a double ear infection and Strep. Sadly we are still fighting this one.
By evening, with a big ol' dose of Motrin and the start of an antibiotic, Lucy was able to push through a dinner outing. The kids love this total tourist trap of a restaurant and I must admit, the food is pretty good.
I imagine their reasoning has nothing to do with the seafood though, but more with the live alligators. There are at least 8 full grown ones in the courtyard pond. Eerie.
That evening a horrendous beach storm blew in. None like I can recall {and mind you I grew up on the beach}. Our pink house was literally vibrating and shaking with the thunder and lightning. It was an amazing sight to watch over the Gulf {from our window, of course}. We were glad we had chosen this as the one night we drove to dinner in the car instead of on bikes.
The rest of the week was spent just as the days before only with a sick child in tow. In true Lucy fashion, she was a trooper. Thank goodness for Motrin.
Lu pushed through the best she could, but I found myself taking her back to the house for early naps. She was nearly wiped out after only a bit of play.
It didn't stop her from wave riding out in the great wide sea with her Daddy though.
On the last day I was able to capture my coveted beach pictures {with a bribe to the Sugar Shack}. And although Lucy wasn't feeling great, you would never know by looking at these photos. I was so happy with these sweet images of my beach babes.
I love how Daddy matches and he didn't even mean too.
And I loathe how I clash. I had all intentions of only taking pics of the kiddos {hence my beach hair}.
And just when I think it's only going to be the kids, some generous bystander offers to grab a shot of us all. Note to self...match or at least don't clash next time...just in case. I'm thinking I did a pretty good job hiding my fluorescent pink and green tank.
So there it is...our vacation by the sea. Never a dull moment in this family. And I say that with a smile.
Now, were are set to prepare to knock a few more things off our Summer Lists and then head to the lake.
And the summer just keeps bringing on the good times!
