Beach Trip

I cannot believe another beach trip is already here and over. A year surely does go by fast and it makes me a little sad! One thing about another year passing is that we had to actually buy the boys a seat on the airplane. Boo! It sure is nice though for them to be in a seat and not in my lap. They did really well on the plane but with a lot of help from mommy and Nana's bag.
One row was me and the boys, the one behind us was Papa, Ryan (he was coming for 2 days) and Kylie then the row beside us was Nana, Aunt Tina, Charley and Nanny. We went to a really good outdoor restaurant called Boondocks and it had some great seafood. We went Sunday night so that Ryan could get in some good food before he flew back for work on Monday night. (I had to turn the pics to B&W because my kids colors were really clashing:-) After dinner, we all went down to the beach and the kids of course were soaking wet before we were done. I have just come to the conclusion that we will not get all 3 kids looking at the camera at the same time so I have just faced the fact and let it go! Isn't Charley so pretty?! I just love here blonde hair. The first couple of days she was not really fond of the water or the beach but by the end of the trip, she was doing much better. I know what I am getting the kids for Christmas...an air mattress. Who knew this would provide so much entertainment for all 4 kids. This was the boys' bed all week and they loved it. Don't you just love how Papa and Ryan are "watching" the kids! They all loved the beach and the ocean, and Kylie was not scared at all. The boys did such a good job in the pool all week. Most of the time they just used their water wings to swim. Braden could get all around by himself and didn't need any help. Reed got around great too but sometimes he would get "stuck" in the middle of the pool and couldn't get to the other side. Reed, Charley, Braden and Kylie all watching Papa vacuum in the morning. Vacuuming took place at least once a day with these 4 making messes all the time.
Papa, Reed, Nanny, Braden and Nana on the way to play. My mom is probably going to kill me for putting this picture on here:-) Nanny is such a trooper when it comes to our vacation. She plays with the kids all the time and loves every minute of it. She is such a great grandmom! Kylie is definitely a daddy's girl right now. If I am holding her, she usually will want Ryan over me. I was so glad that Ryan got to come for a few days this year. Hopefully next year, he can come for the whole week. Aunt Tina trying to get Charley used to the water. Well, the annual attempt at getting a decent beach picture was definitely harder than even last year. Kylie and Charley were hard to get to sit still. Maybe next year will be easier, but I won't hold my breath!
By this point I didn't care anymore and Kylie proceeded to dig in the sand with her face. She is a little mess!
Braden wearing his "gobbles" as he likes to call them. He couldn't quite seem to get them on correctly!
Braden loves his cousin Charley. He was always calling for Charley to come watch him jump on the air mattress. I am so excited that the cousins will be close in age....Tina, you need to make sure the next cousin is not too far behind in age:-)
Uncle Craig came up on Wednesday and surprised most of us. Thankfully he came so that I could steal his visor to wear the rest of the week. The boys had a blast every day at the pool and ocean. Most days, they didn't even want to come in to eat. But once they did come inside, they were asking to take a nap which never happens at home!
The "big" kids were doing belly flops one day and of course, Braden thought he could do it too. As you can tell below, he did pretty good for his first belly flop. I don't know why I think taking the picture from behind for little girls is so cute but I love it! Charley swimming on her own with her puddle jumper. It was amazing how different she was by the end of the week from the beginning in the pool. Reed really got the hang of the water wings by the end of the week. These allow them to get around easier than the puddle jumpers do.
Someone asked me at the pool who was the more mischievous one and Braden is usually who comes to mind. But, Reed has us fooled. He is the sneaky mischievous one. In this picture he came up behind Braden and pushed him in. Well, this caught on and Braden then returned the favor. You can tell that Reed didn't have quite the expression on his face that Braden did:-) Kylie is also Papa's little girl too. She definitely chooses him over Nana most of the time too.
Our three little kiddos are getting so big. I really cannot believe how quickly time flies by. We do truly try to cherish each day with Braden, Reed and Kylie. I do not take one day for granted with each of them because we know first hand how someone can be taken at any moment from you. We love them so much! Kylie and Charley watching the birds. We brought bread down to feed the birds and for a few minutes I felt like we were being attacked by 30 birds, no lie. If you ever try to feed the birds don't waste your time with fruit loops because they don't like them!
Thanks to Nana and Papa for taking us to Florida again. We had a blast and cannot wait for next year. I definitely got spoiled by not having to change as many diapers, cook meals, put the kids down for naps, and the list goes on and on. I told my mom she was going to have to come home with us because she spoiled the boys at night. She would read them a million stories and lay down with them until they fell asleep at night. I guess that's what grandparents are for! Reed Hutchison WhiteKylie Reese WhiteBraden Paul White If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that we always go to the consignment store to buy the kids toys for the week then end up bringing them back home. Dad is the master packer and duck-taper. We brought home a 2 piece riding train, lady bug riding toy, a big horse barn, 2 boats, 3 bulldozers, and a big wheel. We got all of that along with some other toys for just $40 so we could'nt bare to leave them behind. My brother, Craig, flew back from Florida Friday night instead of Saturday morning with the rest of us. Ryan said this was so he wouldn't have to help us get on the plane and entertain the kids on the flight back:-) Well, he did have to come pick us up from the airport, but he must have missed the part that he had to pick ALL of us up.
You can see what he came to pick up 5 adults, 4 babies, 7 suitcases, 4 carseats, 3 garbage bags full of riding toys plus him in this truck. We seem to always have some funny story when it comes to getting us to/from airport with all our stuff. This one about tops them all!My mom and dad loading up the kids in their carseats.Tina, me, Nanny and Craig all rode in the camper part of the truck in 100 degree weather. When we first got in the back with all the pieces of luggage, we couldn't get the windows open. Tina and I were both feeling a little claustrophobic so I resorted to taking pictures to relieve our fears:-) Whose 87 year old grandmom can climb in the back of a truck with all this luggage and no air and laugh about it...Mine! Great Beach Vacation of 2011~