Beach Vacation Part Deux

Here are the many pictures I took while on vacation.

Our first day at the beach.



Sydney watching the dolphins off in the distance. Every so often one of them would leap out of the water and give us a show. It was awesome!



Our set up for the day.



The girls on their boogie boards.



Even Cali was chillaxin'.



The sea turtle nest were all marked off. The little sign says that disturbing the nest could result in large fines and possibly imprisonment. They are, after all, endangered species.



Layne found the hammock perfect for chillaxin'.



After a day at the beach, we rinsed off in the outside shower and hit the pool - with no swim suits on!



The view from the wrap-around porch. This is the bay-side. We stayed at a house named A Bay to Remember.



The next day started with rain. But it blew off by noon time, so we hit the beach. There were more clouds than sun, but the girls met a friend and they had a great time.



I was having a good time with a little crab. It kept coming out with arms full of sand and depositing it a few inches away from the hole. It got pretty deep. I watched it from my chair, but had to get closer to get this pic of all his foot/claw prints. So funny!



And here it is! It would come out, dump the sand, and then stop and watch for a bit. If I tried to get closer, it would scamper back into the hole. So I played with it for a little while, just startling it back in to it's new home.



Layne's sandy legs and feet.



This lighthouse has a lot of interesting history, but I won't mention it here (but if you're interested, go here and be sure to click on all the yellow picture links). Layne saw it and decided she HAD to go inside. Well, by the time we got there, it was closed for the evening. We promised her that we would go in first thing in the morning, but she cried anyway. I took this pic of her while she sniffled on the steps.



The very next day, we woke and got dressed to go to the lighthouse. All four of us climbed to the top.



There are 92 steps. Whew!! And after that, in order to get into the lantern room, we had to climb up a completely vertical ladder that had about ten rungs on it. Layne decided she did not want to go up the ladder. But I practically pushed her up in front of me telling her that she didn't walk up 92 steps to the top to NOT go into the lantern room to see the view. She did great!



And she was so proud of herself. The view from the top was awesome!



Then off to the beach ...



... to build a sand castle and ...



... with a moat and accessories ...



... and to bury Mommy in the sand ...



... and, of course, swim in the waves ...



... when it looked like there were no jellyfish around. The one Sydney is holding (below) is called a cannonball jellyfish. It doesn't sting unless some sort of membrane is broken. But it takes more than just brushing up against it. Unlike the many sea nettles we saw. Walking by one of those and unknowingly brushing one of its tentacles will cause an electrifying sting which leaves a short small welt where it touched the skin. Layne and Syd were both stung. Poor girls.

Sydney loved holding this one knowing it wouldn't sting. Layne got a chance to hold it too.



The girls found a couple hermit crabs. We brought to back to the house, but then a few days later, we brought them back to the beach. We didn't want to risk killing them because we didn't know how to take care of them. So we ended up buying a couple.



Even Cali got wet. It took her a few days to get use to the waves. But once she did, there was no stopping her from getting into the water. She actually walked out far enough to be over her head so that she could swim around. So cute!



Tons of shells!



Sydney had fun scaring Auntie Jennifer with this dead crab.



The day after Jess's mother arrived, she and brother-in-law Josh took the girls on a chartered boat to go fishing. They caught a bunch of trout.



It was hot and they were out on the boat with no shade, but they had a blast!



I don't know how long Layne actually held a pole, but she lasted the whole four hours out on the boat.



After seeing all the jellyfish, no one wanted to go in the water for fear of getting stung. But this was a beach vacation, dammit, so we were going to the beach. The girls still had fun in the sand. I thought this was a picture of Sydney kneeling. But then I realized that she had buried her legs up to her knees.



And finally, what's going to the beach without drawing in the sand? And this is exactly what I would expect Syd would draw.

We had a wonderful time despite the jelly fish and my MIL (but that's another story). We've never done a "beach" vacation, so we didn't know what to expect. But now that we know, we want to do it again. We'll do things a little different next time, like rent the umbrella and chairs for the beach (instead of buying them - we won't have to lug them onto the beach because the rental company does that for you, everyday!), and stay on the beach side as opposed to the bay side. And most importantly, we research the jelly fish situation before we go. What's a beach vacation if you can't swim in the water?