Life's a beach -- Day 1

We were blessed with a fabulous little vacation in mid-August, thanks to Mimi and Poppy's generosity: four days in Destin, Florida. And it was more than just a fun getaway; it was the boys' very first trip to the beach!

On Saturday morning we carried the boys to the car and were pulling out of our driveway at 4 a.m., confident they would fall back asleep for a few hours. Well, the joke was on us -- those little adventurers were wiiiiide awake and so curious about what was going on. Though, hilariously, they only spoke in a whisper for about the first hour of the drive. 

We stopped to get breakfast in Louisiana after the sun came up, and not even 30 minutes later, Grant was throwing up. And Reid either had sympathy nausea or just wanted attention, because he was gagging the whole time himself. We couldn't make this stuff up. We stopped again to clean up and stock up on plastic bags, and it was a good thing, because it happened again just a few miles down the road. Mercifully, it was only those two times -- carsickness, perhaps? -- but it was enough to make us nervous for the rest of the drive! 

Waking up at 4 a.m. did have an upside, though -- they were both fast asleep by 8:30. Puking aside, it was a shockingly smooth trip. We arrived at the beach house 10 hours later and with minimal meltdowns. 

These two wasted no time breaking in the house's screened porch...

{R}

{G}

Putting Aunt Meg to work...

Loving on Mimi...

{Mimi & Grant}

{G}

Bossing Chris around...

{Reid playing cars with Chris}

And showering Shelby ("Selby") with lots of attention:

{R}

It rained for most of our drive and continued once we arrived. That didn't stop us from jumping right into the fun (and puddles), though:

{G}

After a few minutes of splashing, we decided to throw caution to the wind (and rain) and venture down to the beach, half-naked babies and all. We loaded up in the golf cart (which the boys called a tractor the whole time) and made the wet trek to the water for their very first experience with the beach.

{Digging with Mimi -- Grant's in the hat}

{R}

We also got a little preview of what would prove to be one of their top 3 activities -- chasing seagulls:

And then it was back to the house to dry off, warm up, and have some snacks:

{Mimi, R & G}

After the boys went to bed, Mimi and Poppy generously offered to babysit so we could enjoy an evening out. We headed to the boardwalk with Megan and Chris and had lots of fun:

Ahhhhh, vacation...