Fun In The Sun

The boys did awesome last night. They are sleeping in the same room which I think is so cute. They were both exhausted and slept a normal 12/13 hour night like they do at home thankfully. We had a pretty normal morning around the house as we prepped for our adventure to the beach. Koen, Daddy and Uncle Phil headed out to get the boat around Tavin's naptime, so I just stayed at the house to pack up the picnic lunch, etc. during his nap. Koen loved getting the boat. The marina houses 100's of boats and has some of the largest forklifts in the country, so it was quite a fun distraction for Koen as Uncle Phil got the boat all situated. Then Aunt Leah met up with them and they headed out to the little beach. After Tavin's nap I drove us to a dock right across from the beach where they were getting setup. It worked out quite well. Uncle Phil just came over in the boat to pick us up. It was Tavin's first boat ride! He was quite unsure of the life jacket and even more put off by the 5 foot pass down from the dock to Uncle Phil in the strange floating vessel below. He rebounded quickly though into his staring at the world in sensory overload mode once Mommy got on board and picked him up.


We had a casual picnic lunch on the beach and then the boys just hung out and played. Here's a picture of my brother, Phil, and his wife, Leah, our wonderful hosts for the week!

Koen is definitely super, super overtired today, so he's very fragile (and I think Doug has had just about enough of it), but Koen did very well with the adventure and played quietly by himself with his trucks for about an hour.

At one point we moved our little setup down the beach to meet up with Phil & Leah's friends, Uncle Phil did a great job getting Koen psyched about the move by saying, "the construction company just called and said there's an important job down the beach, let's jump in the boat and get down there right away."

Koen was all about it! He just requested if he could please "smash down" the sandcastle first. By all means!

Tavin was finally done with his lunch (man, this kid can eat!!!) and was getting comfortable with the bright sun, odd sand texture on his skin and busy atmosphere (this beach was packed!) and he enjoyed playing with some sand toys too. So cute to see him exploring a new world. Here's a video capturing his sand expirements and a glimpse at Koen too.

We decided it was best to get Koen back to the car at the marina and get him home for a nap since he didn't nap the two days before (and man, did he need a nap!). He was quite cooperative since it meant another boat ride and I think the poor thing knows he's exhausted. Doug was reticent to leave, but it's one of those things you have to do as parents. A rested child will be a lot more fun in the long run!

Tavin and I stayed back with Aunt Leah for about another hour or so while Uncle Phil got Koen and Doug to the car. Tav did very well even though it was approaching his naptime. There was a boat blasting fun music and when Tavin got tired I just held him and we had our own little dance party (he loves to dance!) and then I felt like he was partially annoyed because of the sun and the heat, so I took him to the water and dipped his feet in. At first he didn't like it, but I swung him through it over and over and he started to love it. Then he was acclimated to it and I just walked him around in it. He didn't want it to stop. Uncle Phil got back to pick us up and Tavin just kept grunting and pointing to go back in the water. Another ocean baby! I love it!

Tavin was super chill on our quick boat ride across the harbor to the dock where we parked. Quite a day for this little guy. His first boat rides, quite a culture shock in terms of wintry/early Spring Pittsburgh to full-on summer mode here and his first dip in the Gulf!

Well, I have to go wake up Koen and Tav's squawking. Ah, blogging on the sun porch in my brother and sister-in-law's backyard. Very nice.