Thursday, May 31, 2012

Beach 2012, Day 7

Note all pictures are again from Kevin's aunt's camera.  My camera only made it to the beach for the very last part of our last day at the beach.  The weather ended up being quite nice for the whole week, despite the constant threat of the tropical storm - except for the wind. The wind was pretty bad through the beginning of our trip, but yesterday and today it was quite mild. Today the waves were even small and the current almost non-existent.  Levi still had fun "jumping" the waves that were there.
 









Then, Kevin and Levi made their way down a little bit from our "spot" to an even calmer area.  Kara Jane and I headed that way for her to experience the ocean. 


























She loved it!











See the little "blob" in the middle portion of the picture below?  That's Levi making a sand angel.










Kevin dug a swimming hole for Kara Jane.










Of course, Levi had to join in the fun.











Here's little man posing for his great aunt Dee Dee.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Beach 2012, Day 6

The weather had cleared this morning, so we were back at the beach.  Kara Jane still loves the sand.













Levi loves to "jump" the waves.  This means that Daddy or Mama lifts him above the waves before they splash on him.










After KJ's ONE nap today, we went to the beach while Levi and Kevin stayed at the house.  He hasn't been feeling all that well, and after his nap he needed a little more resting time.













Then, it was party time.  Nana isn't quite well enough to make the trip to Birmingham for the birthday party, so she got all the fixings for a little party for Kara at the beach.











I was very surprised that Kara kept the party hat on her head, but it didn't seem to bother her at all.










Papa, Nana, and Kara.










Dee Dee and Kara.










And a preview (from my camera).  Kevin, of course, will do a much better job.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Beach 2012, Day 5 - Part 2

I took some of the pictures off of Dee's camera of our day at the beach on Tuesday, Day 5.

Kevin helping Levi "jump" the waves.

 

 








 





Kara Jane looking adorable in her butterfly bathing suit.



And a picture from later that night. Kara is enthralled with taking things out of and putting things back into bowls, piggy banks, etc. The house where we are staying has dominoes. She thought they were wonderful.  They were in their own basket, and she could use her plastic container as the back-up holding place.


Beach 2012, Day 5

We made it to the beach for a little while, but I forgot my camera.  I hope to post some from Kevin's camera once we get home.  I did end up with this shot from the evening.


Monday, May 28, 2012

Beach 2012, Day 4

The weather today was supposed to be rainy and stormy, so we headed to Charleston for the day.  It was pouring when we left but quickly cleared up when we were just a few miles off the island.  We went to the aquarium, and Levi loved it.  The picture below was of Levi in this section of the aquarium were you could crawl "into" an exhibit of lemurs - basically a plastic bubble so it looks like you're in the midst of the lemurs.













He found an "under 5" area and played there for quite a while.  He pretended he was in prison... played with some puppets / stuffed animals... slid down the slide... delivered packages.







 











Kara Jane thought the fish were pretty neat.
 








Kevin found the poke your head through picture taking opportunity and put Levi up to it.











Levi found this spinning "game", with little metal balls that represented the eggs laid by sea turtles on the beaches.  You'd spin the big wheel to allow the metal balls to drop to the other side to see how many hatched babies would make it to the sea, and how many would get "caught" by distractions from lights, beach chairs, sand castles, etc.











When we got back to the beach house, Kevin's parents and aunt were here.  After dinner, we thought it would be fun to take a quick trip to the beach to walk around since the weather had cleared up.  Kevin went to check it out first to make sure the wind wasn't too bad.  (We had gone last night, and we were pelted with sand because of the high winds!)  He came back with the report that all was fine - and that he'd seen a HUGE sea turtle swimming to shore.  By the time we got down there, we did not see the sea turtle - only the evidence that she had come to shore and headed back to sea.









Levi wanted to get in the water VERY badly, but we were worried about the currents.  So, no water for Levi tonight.  

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Beach 2012, Day 2

The weather is supposed to make a turn for the worst in a day or two, so we decided that we needed to spend as much time as possible at the beach.

Kara Jane still loved the sand.











Even though I don't have pictures, Levi began to really enjoy the water.  He would hold my hand - sometimes both hands - and we'd let the waves hit our legs and faces.  The water was cold, but we had SUCH fun!

We had to take a break for Kara's nap.  Levi took a break, too.  Then we were back at the beach. He watched the big boy play Frisbee with his dad.










He made friends with the people who had settled next to us.










Kara spent the afternoon under the tarp without a bathing suit...and had a great time.











Levi and I played in the water some more.  Thankfully, though, Kevin didn't take any pictures of me in just my bathing suit.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Beach 2012, Day 1

We made it to the beach.  I had been really worried that work was going to keep me from being able to go.  But, the guys on my team and I got it done.  So, we rented a mini-van and made the LONG trip to Kevin's favorite beach.  When we arrived, we were hungry, so stopped at one of the few local restaurants.  Levi had his first fried shrimp.  He loved them!  Score one for Mama!  ;-)  

Then, we HAD to go to the beach.










Levi had fun seeing the water.











And, shockingly, Kara Jane liked the sand!













She, of course, also had to put some in her mouth.













She wasn't too sure about that.













But, it didn't keep her from playing.



















At the pool party last weekend, Levi adamantly would not get in the water.  He had said all week that he wasn't going to get in the water at the beach either.  We got him to at least let the water touch his feet.










Saturday, May 19, 2012

Parties

A set of twins from Levi's class this past year had a pool party to celebrate the end of the school year.  We went and had a fun time.  Here's Kara Jane in her new swimsuit.














Later that afternoon, we went to iJump to celebrate a cousin's birthday.  Last year when we went to a birthday party at iJump, Levi was very timid.  This year, he climbed the highest slide... 
 















raced people down the slide... 

had a wonderful time.