Tybee Island Beach Vacation Installment #1

That's right. Y'all heard me...I said installment #1 because there will be multiple as a week at the beach with a ton of cute kids = MASSIVE amounts of photos that must be shared. Kapeesh? Let's get started, shall we? 

We go to the beach every summer with my family and every summer has looked a little different as far as which beach we go to, who all will get to come (bloody inconvenient work/kid schedules!) etc. One thing is a constant - the kids ADORE it. Getting that many people and items to the beach is no easy feat. We typically divide up supplies and food but because I'm a couponer and am completely familiar with my grocery store/sales situation - I wanted to pack all that we could to avoid paying premium island grocery store prices upon our arrival. It took a little maneuvering, but thanks to owning a Honda Odyssey we made it happen. 

 Packed in like sardines! Glad they love each other. 

 Something tells me that next year we'll be needing to utilize our car top cargo carrier. What do y'all think? I would just like to state here that I praise God every time we take a lengthy trip for whomever created the DVD player. 

 If I recall correctly with stops and all the trip took us about 6ish hours which is a seriously long time for kiddos to be cooped up in the car. So: as soon as we parked the car, before we even unpacked or collected $200 we waltzed straight over to the beach access and out onto the sand. Our happy place! 

 Of course after .2 seconds of toes in the sand and water goodness, this little priss notified me that she needed to pee RIGHT THEN. So....we didn't last long but we were still greeted by all the wonderful beachy things we love so much - sand, water, salty air, ocean breeze and of course - sea gulls and pelicans! 

Night one was full of cousin squealing, unpacking, cousin squealing, organizing, cousin squealing, sleep arrangement configurations and you guessed it: more cousin squealing.

 The next morning as soon as we got kids fed, sun-screened, dressed, pottied, and packed we headed to the beach. Sadly, when your kids are your alarm clock - you arrive at the beach around 10 AM for what I like to call "round one". 

I dare you not to stare at her leg rolls. They are delicious.

~My boys~

Oh man...this kid and Avery rival each other in their mischievousness but I adore him and his sweet smile. 

His sister hasn't mastered the camera pose just yet, but I intended to capture her anyway. Precious! 

My boy was a bit timid at first in his beach exploration but once he "got over the hump" so to speak it was ON!

Sisters...they are the best. Sadly we were one down :(...you were missed Catina!

Grey spent a good portion of the week in this pose right here. Airplanes, seagulls and pelicans: oh my!

As usual we got to see some of these beauties...it never gets old. They are stunning creatures. 

Maybe it was the time of year we were there this go around, but we saw TONS of fishing boats and wherever there are fishing boats with nets down...there are dolphins cherry picking the nets. Can you blame them? Easy meal! 

I thought this was kind of funny. Apparently this seagull wasn't deterred by the "underwater hazard" and chose to "fish" there anyhow. 

You're never too old to play in the sand and earn yourself a suit full of grit!

These matchy matchy suits were Kennedy and Avery's but this year Avery and Ellie were able to wear them. I wanted a super cute picture of them next to one another but these were the best I could get. Oh well!

I love this - a little wave jumping action.

Team Wall

Sweet bebe!

Snack time!

Pretty much every day we would stay at the beach until lunch/nap time and then we'd go back to the house to eat and get babes down. Once they were awake we'd either go back then or after supper for a later play time. Luckily the kids entertain each other at the house just as well as they do at the beach. 

This is what I call his hard cheese face. CHEESE!!!!!!!

On this day we clearly did the later beach option as the sun was setting. Perfection! No sun screen required. 

The good thing about beachin' it twice a day - it WEARS the kiddos OUT. Case in point: 

Oh my sweet holy heavens. These pictures crack me up. My kids have done this a number of times in their entire existence. Ellie did this almost every day while we were there. Sleepy girl. 

LOVE

I hear ya sister. I probably felt the same but falling asleep while eating wouldn't have been nearly as acceptable for me ;). 

More to come...