We have been taking the family to the beach every summer for the past 7 yrs, except for the frustrating summer of 2020. Covid. You can imagine the sadness and madness when we had to cancel last summer...we had 6 very disappointed grandbabies AND parents AND grandparents.... So, when it was time and safe to go back, everyone was so excited!! (sadly, one of our families wasn't able to make it this summer and we missed them terribly. They had scheduled an anniversary trip to the mountains so it was nice to know they were having adventures too!)
Cap'n and I took off way before the sun rose for the 8 hour drive and got to witness this on our drive...
The SUN rising in all its glory!
PoppyPearl in her seat along with LOADS of supplies!!!
The Chads, from the Dallas area, decided to fly this year! That extra 3-4 hrs of driving is not always fun with their car loaded with kids and beach gear...
their usual pose of the car ride...to the airport this time!
We usually stay in the same house every summer but this yr, because we had to wait to reserve
until we saw what was going to happen with Covid, our regular house was already taken. So, we found another right down the road and it turned out to be a great place!
Sunrise!
Sunset!
First things first!!! Opening the goodie bags that I always have to have for those kids!
Everybody got a beach towel with their names on it!
While waiting for our house to be opened, we stopped for lunch at a fave spot at the marina....of course, raw oysters for me!
Fun at the beach and in the Gulf all day, every day!
And swimming in the pool that was under the house!
Night Swimming!!
Amy surprised us with new glasses for our beverages!!
Took the kids to brunch one morning ..
where the princesses and pirates entertain!
ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!
After brunch, we went to the souvenir shop where the kids wanted to get t-shirts.
They wanted to be Cap'n's Crew since they were going to sailing school the week we got back.
(wish I'd gotten him a shirt that said THE cap'n!!)
There was, of course, the nightly sand crab hunt too!! This year we decided they were old enough so we loaded them up with flashlights and buckets, gave them boundary lines and let them go off on their own. They were very excited about that!
(it's the little things, ya know??!!)
We even celebrated "somebody's" 40th birthday while we were there!
We all love the beach and time together to just chill and relax so much...
except for one lil girl who wasn't all that thrilled with the sand!
Every family dinner was relaxed and enjoyed on the deck
and most days, we felt like we had our own private beach!
Our chair and umbrella set up outside the house...
Even a few clouds at the beach are beautiful!
Please allow me to now dump a lot of precious pics!
**Sigh** WHAT a great trip!!
but the time always comes to say Goodbye Surf & Sand...
“To escape and sit quietly on the beach – that’s my idea of paradise.” – Emilia Wickstead
Until next time.....!!!!!
