Beach Bums

My Sister-in-Law, Lauren and I took Annabelle to the beach this week to celebrate the beginning of summer! Lauren’s out for summer break, so what better way to kick it off than a week at the condo with the girls??

We had such a great time! How could you not, when you wake up to this every morning?

We got to the beach on Monday around lunch. Aunt Lauren had a surprise for AB when we got there. (She’d been home to Tampa the weekend before, and anytime she and Uncle Adam go to Tampa, a stop at Janie & Jack is a must and AB always gets something cute out of the deal!) This time, it was a new bathing suit for our trip! Annabelle was ready to put it on and hit the beach! So cute…

The condo went under some major renovations this Winter/Spring. New windows and doors were installed and they are beyond beautiful. The whole front of the condo is floor to ceiling windows and they may just be Annabelle’s favorite thing about the beach. When we weren’t in the water, she was standing at the windows looking out at it! I love these pics of her in front of the window. In the one on the left, you can see she’s holding her baby doll, Abby. The silhouette with her pig tails on the right is precious, too! Love it…

The water was gorgeous this trip. Lauren and I both agreed we’d never seen it so blue and clear. It was perfect. The weather was too. We had sun the whole trip. On our first afternoon on the beach, Lauren found a starfish that had been washed on the shore.

So neat! I’ve never seen much more than jellyfish, when it comes to sea-life at Daytona, so it was really neat to me. AB wanted to get close enough to see it, but not touch it! That same afternoon, a crab was washed up and AB felt the same way about it, as the starfish..she wanted to SEE it not TOUCH it.

We played on the beach twice every day. We’d go before morning nap time and then again after lunch before AB’s afternoon nap.

Lauren and I took turns chasing after Little Miss, who wanted to run straight for the ocean. She LOVED the waves. Her Daddy & her Pappy will be proud for sure. They love the big waves and the beaches on Florida’s Atlantic coast are known for them. We’d hold onto her arms and let the waves “knock her down” and she’d just howl! Everyone around commented on how much she was loving it!

Something she didn’t love though, was the sand. She doesn’t like to be dirty or have something on her, so the sand was a major pain to her. We kept a beach bucket full of water for her to rinse her hands and feet in. She thought the Frisbee worked well for this purpose, too. She’s not prissy at all. (HA.)

AB finally started braving the sand and started collecting shells. Well, she’d point to them and have me pick them up for her. (ha.) After that, she’d rinse them off in her water bucket and then line them up on the handle of the chair.

We ate so much good food and snacks while we were there. What is it about the water that makes you want to eat all day long?!?!? You’d think having to be in a bathing suit all day would make me not eat the whole trip, but its just the opposite!

We tried the new Blue Bell ice cream bars. Have yall tried them? We got the Buttered Pecan ones and they were Heaven on a stick. YUM.

We spent two afternoons/nights at The Pavilion, which is a new outdoor mall about 6 miles from the condo. I was so excited when we saw all the new restaurants and shops opening at The Pavilion, when we were at the beach in April. Last month, when we were there, all the shops and restaurants had opened and we ate at the new Olive Garden. After dinner that night, we rode through the parking lot to see what else was there and lo and behold, there was a Red Robin! I’ve heard about Red Robin, but never eaten there, or even seen one before! I was SO excited, and knew that the next time we were there, we’d have to try it! So this trip, we did!

The only thing that would have made the trip better is if the guys had been with us. We were so glad to get home and see them yesterday!

We love the beach and we are so blessed to get to go often. It’s something we definitely don’t take for granted.

~amw~