Ocean Vibes

My family adores the ocean.  It is something that we all really love.

I've mastered what I need to pack to ensure the most fun, Kevin's mastered our beach set up with umbrellas and chairs and the kids love to play.

We made it to the ocean 3 times on this trip and each one was pretty wonderful.  It's just a short drive from my in law's place and the beaches are never crowded.  You pay to park and just walk right out to a stunning view.

It's much less stressful than the pool because they're nothing for Fletcher to fall off of or climb.  He walks out into the water a bit and then he sits.  I still have to make sure he's not eating shells or going out too far, but it feels like a much calmer outing than the pool.

OCEAN DAY 1:

The water was so clear!  We could see big shells, walk really far out and Kevin even spotted some sting rays this time.

I feel like we hit a parenting milestone this trip.  No one ate any shells or tried to eat any sand.  Sure they ended up with sand in their face, but it was because they were playing so hard.  It was so fun!

Both kids love going out in the ocean with Kevin.
Real Life: Kevin said that he was taking Olive out into the ocean and she said, By the way dad, I just peed on you.  Parenting is so glamours. haha

Fletcher.  The seagull chaser.  He screeched with delight and chased the birds.  They were extra interested in him once they realized he had pretzels.
Real Life: I spent a lot of time trying to get him to wear his sun hat.  Olive was always so good about wearing one and he refuses.  Mom fail.  I was also the mom chasing behind him reapplying sunscreen to the top of his head.  He never got burned so I applaud my sunscreen application as well as his rash guard.  They are life savers in the sun burn department.

Fletcher's turn to go out.

Our perfect set up.  Three umbrellas, chairs for everyone, sand toys and lunch.

These two had the best time playing together.

Gorgeous - right??
You park, walk through beautiful little park type set ups and then the ocean is right there.
Real Life: Olive had an epic meltdown shortly after this picture was taken.  She did not want to waer her wet suit and I couldn't seem to get the sand washed off her fast enough.  I ended up carrying a screaming Olive to the car, while pushing Fletcher in a loaded down stroller.  Kevin was pulling up the car and drove up to quite a scene.  I think she was just overtired and hangry, but I really thought we were over that meltdown stage of life with her.

We found THE BEST shells this trip.  They were larger, more colorful and better than any of our other beach trips.  We love spending time collecting them during our ocean days and then bring home a bag of shells as a souvenir.  I love decorating our house with them every summer.  It just makes me smile to see all these shells we've been collecting for YEARS.

OCEAN DAY 2:
Lifeguard duties usually just mean I'm wiping saltwater out of their eyes and keeping their heads above the waves.

The weather was warm, but beautiful every day.  We only had one day of storms during the day.  We were really thankful for the great weather and it was so fun to see the things that washed up on the beach overnight.  The kids were fascinated with this crab.

She was getting braver and braver each day.

We had a contest to see who could find the biggest shells each day.  Olive was also determined to find as many unicorn horn shells as possible.

OCEAN DAY 3
Another beautiful spot to walk through on the way to the ocean.  The homes in downtown Naples are amazing!!  I'd love to stroll through the neighborhoods one day when we have time to kill.

All smiles as the waves washed over his chubby little feet.
Real Life: He was happy about 90% of the time at the ocean.  He also sprouted a couple of new teeth during this trip so that would explain the day he was extra fussy/clingy.

Wait for me, Sis!!

Strolling down the beach like teenagers.

My father in law prefers to spend his vacation on the golf course, but he humored us and headed to the ocean with us one day.  Olive loved showing him her favorite things.

We found HUGE shells this day.  Unfortunately, many of them were home to ocean creatures so we collected and put them back.  It was crazy to see these huge shells.  Olive spent her ocean days singing the soundtrack to Moana and acting out the scenes.  It was really cute!

And that's a wrap on our trip to Naples, FL!
The kids had a blast and kept us on our toes.
Real Life: Watching a busy one year old in a new house for a week is tricky.  He was climbing everything!!  Thank heavens he slept like a champion because he wore me out.  The kids were super comfortable here.  Olive claimed Grandpa's chair when he wasn't sitting in it.  She tolerated sharing it with Fletcher and then told Grandpa that she loved his chair because it smelled like him.  haha