Summer Holiday

Long after everyone has put away their summer toys, we are just heading off to the beach for our summer vacay.... on the first day of fall.  That's right! We're shade lovers and I don't like to sweat, so late September is the perfect time to hang out on the beach without being completely cooked by the hot southern sun. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Of course Mason went last year, but he only ventured down to the beach twice. If I remember correctly, he cried both times. This year he loved the sand and surf! 

Last year Kate didn't care much about the beach, but this year we couldn't keep her out of the water.

Pop did some fishing and got plenty of help.

Mason could knock sandcastles down faster than you could build them up.

Sometimes the kids even play together!

Of course Foster was along for the fun!

Every Princess takes her wand to the beach, right? For stirring buckets of sand, of course.

Mason got his first surfing lesson.

There wasn't a lot of surf to be had, but Don did catch a few waves.

And what trip to Charleston would be complete without a trip to the aquarium?

The lemur exhibit was fantastic!! We all got pretty up close and personal with this guy.

 

The kiddos skippered a boat...

And pretended to be sharks...

Pics of both kids looking at the camera were few and far between. Here's the best I managed. Yes, Mason is chewing on a shark. Yes, Kate bought two dolphins at the aquarium. She even mentioned that the gift shop was the best part of the trip.

It was a great week! We shopped, swam, surfed, ate, ate, ate, laughed, cried (tired kids, not us), and most importantly, relaxed. It was a well needed break from real life, which, we are back to first thing tomorrow.  And I did get at least a couple of pictures of the kids looking at the camera.