Melders Meet HHI, Part V

Sunday
So, today didn't really get off to that relaxing of a start.  At 5am, we were awakened by a deafening and shrill beeping noise.  I didn't know if it was the security alarm or what.  Doug and I both started puttering around in a sleepy, yet frantic stupor to try and find the sound.  Ah yes, of course, a pesky smoke detector on the fritz.  Now that we were awake we could tell that there was a storm rumbling through and we figured that somehow there must have been a power surge or power loss and this particular detector's back-up battery must be dead.  Just as oddly as it had started though, it stopped.  That wasn't that reassuring to me as I was afraid it would go off yet again at any moment.  Not exactly the easiest thought to fall back asleep on (did I mention that this detector was right in between the 3 boys' sleeping quarters?!  How they didn't wake up, I have no idea!).  Besides the fact my mind and heart were racing, the thunderstorm continued to rumble closer until there was thunder clapping and lightning flashing right over us.  So now falling asleep was out of the question.  The storm must have dissipated to just heavy rain by about 6am and I finally fell back asleep.  I had no idea that Doug awoke around 6:30am and so then I just ended up sleeping on until almost 8am!  To those of you without kids, this might seem hilarious to end with an exclamation point, but for those of us with kids, particularly moms who sleep with one ear open anyways, it's huge!  So, that was a nice treat after losing some early morning sleep.  I did feel a bit groggy getting the boys breakfast and starting my day, but it turned out to be worth it.  I needed that rest, especially with another beach morning ahead!  Last night the weather predictions looked like a strong chance of rain again for during the day, but thankfully right around 8:30am the clouds parted and the sun came out to stay.  We got to the beach a little after 9am and stayed until noon again.  We keep forgetting to take any sort of time piece and pretty much let the boys attitudes and our stomachs dictate when it's time to depart.  It's worked every time!  This morning at the beach we enjoyed lots of the same activities as the days before.  A new one though was burying Daddy's legs, then Koen's legs...

Then Penn thought it looked like fun, so he just went ahead and laid down in the sand next to Koen.  Doug and I were commenting that neither of the other boys would have ever tried that at two.  This kid is fearless, especially when it comes to what his brothers are doing.

Sandy mess, Daddy pile-on!!  

We caught some new creatures today.  This was actually the reason we wrapped up our ocean fun this AM.  Everyone was starting to spot jellyfish.  Not a word more is necessary to get me out of the water (although it was a real bummer because Tav and I were out in the waves having him ride them on the boogie board and he was loving it and so was I!).  As we were running out of the water, I happened to see a sand dollar too.  Koen was excited for the new finds.

Penn bravely wanted to be just like Koen and pose with the sea creature.  

After the pics with the new ocean finds, we headed off the beach and to the pool.  Doug went back to the house to throw burgers on the grill for lunch.  Around 1pm we finally sat down to a super delicious and filling lunch back at the house.  Then the boys promptly went down for naps and slept the whole afternoon.  Tav was up around 4:30pm and Penn woke up a little closer to 5pm.  Doug, Koen and I were already preparing to get back to the beach and we were on it just a little after 5 and ended up having so much fun in the waves and on the sand we didn't leave until after 6:30pm!  We kept busy mostly with boogie-boarding.  Even Penn got a little bit of a turn when Koen and Tav gave him rides in the waves (he is crazy fearless with this game, loves to be knocked off and splashed by the waves!).  Sorry about the foggy camera, it was really humid and my lens hadn't adjusted, but I didn't want to miss the pics!

After these first few pulls for Penn, the big boys headed out into the waves with Doug for most of the rest of the time.  I hung out with Penn near the shore and we developed a hilarious game with a little bouncy ball called, "I got it, you got it."  Penn was squealing with delight.  He thought he was so funny chasing the ball with me.  You gotta love the simplicity of a two year old!  Anyways, the boys had a blast in the waves.  Koen made a few friends near his age that also had boogie boards and he rode the waves with them while Doug and Tavin tag teamed.  I caught one good ride (although not his ultimate, this feather-weight can just fly on the big waves!) on video...

For the last ten minutes of wave-riding, I got to go out and be Tavin's partner.  It was a blast.  He is so brave and so patient for the good waves.  It's amazing how he clings to that board, holds his breath and just rides it out to the shore.  Unfortunately right as we were waiting for the next wave, I stepped on something squishy (pretty sure it was a sea ray that was spotted earlier) and that was it for me!  It was good timing though since we didn't really realize how late it was we were all having so much fun.  Thankfully we had an easy last night dinner planned for the boys when we got back to the house, a take-and-bake pizza from the local grocery store.  They gobbled it up with some veggies no problem.  I gave them some play time and then it was straight to bed (a tad late, 8pm for Penn and 8:20pm for the big boys).  Phew!  What a day!  I'm so thankful we've been able to fill our vacation days with so much glorious outdoor time, particularly at the beach, and just simply doing it as our little family.