Beach Bums

(Olive turns 3 at the ocean 2016)

 

We love going to the beach and look forward to our annual trip with Kevin's family each year.  We have tried out different beaches from Gulf Shores, Destin, Hilton Head and Naples, FL.  This is our second time going to Naples and it's gorgeous.  It is quite a haul from Indiana... 17+ hours, but the kids did great on the drive and it wasn't bad at all.  We had a great time and the beach is always a highlight for the whole family.

It was easy to keep Olive happy at the ocean - toys, a few snacks, sun hat and say yes to whatever she wanted to play.  Fletcher was happy as long as there was a breeze and he was full.  It was easier to keep him cool at the ocean than at the pool so he seemed happier at the ocean.  I don't blame him.

The pictures below are my favorites from four different days at the ocean.  We spent Olive's birthday at the ocean and then just spaced out the other ocean days throughout our vacation.

Fletcher having a whale-y good time at the ocean.

 The water was gorgeous!

 I was so happy that I captured Olive launching shells back into the ocean.  See the flying shell up in the clouds??  She loved to collect shells and wanted to throw every single one back.  If we wanted to keep any shells we had to hide them from her :)

Remember the mermaids I mentioned she picked out as her zoo souvenir??  Here they are - lovingly named Mom & Sweetheart - were the best ocean toys of the week.

This is the first year that she enjoyed being buried.

Fletcher's swim gear was far too hot and he stayed much cooler in regular onesies.  He was under the shady umbrellas the whole time.  We all took turns snuggling him.

Being brave with her daddy :)

Kevin is almost always the fun one at our house.  He took Olive out into the ocean, floated with her for a long time and basically had to drag her back to shore.  She's fearless.

Kevin set us up an umbrella camp every day and it worked out great.  Three umbrellas meant lots of shade and room to stay cool.  I love how accessible the beaches are in Naples.  You park basically behind the trees on the left and walk right down to the ocean.  Summer is considered the off season in Naples because it's hot.  We love coming down in the summer because there are no crowds.

Olive was really independent at the beach this year.  She was perfectly fine to play on her own and would say you go back to the chairs when she wanted some space to play on her own.

She'd run up to our chairs for a drink, a quick bite and then zoom back to the water.

Fletcher was happy as a clam most of the time at the ocean.  Big sister is playing in the background and he's happy to be held and talked to.  It's crazy to think next year he'll be playing in the sand and we'll be worrying about how to keep him from eating it.

 The $5 raft from Publix proved to be a fun purchase.  Olive held on to the rope and Kevin pulled her all around the ocean.  I could hear her squeals of delights from my chair and this is the point of the trip where she looked at Kevin and said, "This is INCREDIBLE Daddy!!"  Which made Kevin feel all sentimental and tell me he wishes he could freeze time.  I'm usually the one saying that so it was sweet for him to have a little Father of the Bride moment with Olive.

Cue the Little Mermaid music...

I wish I could be part of your worldddddddd.......

 The frisbee ring also was a ton of fun to throw.  Olive got the hang of it and was happy to fetch.

We had an amazing time being beach bums!!

Are you a fan of the beach??

What's your favorite beach to vacation at?

I didn't grow up going to the beach, but it didn't take long for married Whitney to get the hang of beach life.