Life at the Beach

Last week was our annual family beach week at TI (Topsail Island).

We had a full house, but Finley was the only baby there so he got a lot of attention from all his doting grandparents, Aunt Michelle, and Uncle Donovan.

This year was Finley's first time walking on the beach.

Unfortunately, he did not like to feel the sand in his toes.

He would cry, lift up his feet, and beg to be held instead of standing on his own two feet.

Luckily Mom had come prepared with some water shoes!

With these bad boys on Finley would walk on the sand and even dip his toes in the water.

He seemed to enjoy himself a lot more once he knew his toes were protected!

Here is how we spent our lazy days at the beach:

Pool Time

We brought a little wadding pool to splash around in.
Most of the time Finley would just walk around in it,
he wasn't too interested in actually sitting in his pool.
But it did help keep us nice and cool.


Bocce Time

Everyone participated in daily bocce games.
Here are the two dancers - Michelle and Mishay - tearing in up on our court.
Maybe if they had a little more meat on their bones they could throw the ball further :).



Dancing Time

It was so great to have Auntie Michelle at the beach!
Finley hardly ever gets to see her so they enjoyed a lot of quality time together.
Michelle even tap danced for Finley and he just loved it!
He even tried to join in the fun too by stomping his feet on her tap board.


Sand Time

Every day we would build little sand castles for Finley and try to get him more excited about touching the sand.

I can't say that it worked, but I am hopeful that next year Finley will be more interested in building huge sand castles with us.

Fishing Time

Ok not really fishing, but I did catch this little guy in my bucket and Finley enjoyed playing with him. He only escaped once but David was quick to put him back in the bucket.

Nani Time

Who knew baby gates weren't just to keep Finley out of trouble?

They also keep Nani's from going up and down the stairs. Ha ha ha.

Finley enjoyed spending time with Nani, and watching her beat David in Russian Bank (a card game).

Sea Shell Time

David and my mom always enjoy looking for sharks teeth while on the beach. Me, I like to find what I call angel wings. It is always so hard to find them still connected, but look how many I found this year!

Skim Boarding Time

Donovan loved showing off his skillz in front of his lovely lady Megan who also joined our family at the beach. I am always too scared to try this out. It just seems too dangerous. I know that I would totally end up on my on my butt and probably hurt.

Soccer Time

Of course we had all different size balls to play with at the beach. Finley seemed most excited about playing with Pappy's big exercise ball. This was the only time Finley would get close to Pappy - for some reason he is still a little bit scared of him.

Dropping Time

At the beach house we rented they had a landing on the top floor. Finley loved climbing up stairs and then looking down at people below. Here he is with his Abuelo spying on Grammie down below. We also threw things up and down to add to the fun.

Golf Time

David was so kind to watch Finley for me one afternoon so I could go play golf with Deez, Megan, and my dad. I only get to play once a year these days, but I still enjoy it. Then one night all the kiddos went and played mini golf. Deez won our tournament, but David came in a close second. I was having trouble keeping my ball in the putt putt area :).

Here is the whole family at the beach. We hope to have even more family with us next year! (that means you Beans and Adams).

The week went by way too fast and I miss the beach already...