Gulf Shores Part 2

Day 2 and 3 of our beach Odyssey. Grammy, the kids and I headed down to the beach early Thursday morning to soak in as much of the fun as we could before lunchtime. Although it was overcast, it was the perfect weather for the beach because it was warm and breezy. We were very comfortable--maybe a little too comfortable because I neglected to put sunscreen on my shoulders and paid for it later that day!

Tristan was a little overwhelmed by all the sand and sun and got a little fussy at the beach, but I put him down for a nap right on the beach and he felt more cheerful when he woke up. I took his vibrating infant seat down to the beach with us and it was the perfect spot for a quick nap! We were definitely the only ones on the beach with an infant seat! You should have seen Mom and I travelling down to the beach with two kids, two beach umbrellas, a tent, four towels, a beach blanket, three chairs, an infant seat and beach toys. We looked like we were moving out to the beach!
Maura was so excited to get out there to play in the sand and water. Grammy bought her this cool bathing suit that protected her skin from the sun and solved that little sand up the bathing suit problem we've had in the past.
Grammy and Tristan, bathing beauties! I pulled every single beach related outfit out of Tristan's drawers and closet for this vacation. He wore a sailboat, an octopus, a crab, a surfboard, and a fish outfit while we were there. He looked so cute!!
Maura thought it was hilarious to sit at the very edge of the water and splash with her feet. She loved running in and out of the waves and tiptoeing through them. She also loved pretending that she was a little pony running in and out of the waves tossing her head. She has a book about a pony running in the waves and she was so cute acting it out.
Brent drove down on Thursday night to spend the rest of the weekend with us. Happy Birthday Brent. What a lucky guy! He got to celebrate his birthday at the beach on Friday!

Brent at 33 years of age. What a successful guy--a wife that loves him, two kids that are crazy about him, friends that care about him, beloved by his students and athletes, superiors and subordinates who respect him and he's totally sold out to God. I call that success.
Unfortunately, by the time we made it down to the beach on Friday, this is how it looked. We stood there for a few minutes and watched the storm roll in and then noticed a funnel cloud forming at the edge of the storm. As we watched, it touched down on the water and became a water spout. I ran for my camera, but just missed it. The pseudo-tornado and the lightning and thunder that accompanied it convinced us that it wasn't going to be a great beach day. We headed for the indoor pool and made it just in time to avoid a downpour. We had a good time hanging out at the indoor pool. We sat in the hot tub for awhile talking with some people from Alabama. While we were all sitting there around the tub, Maura walked up to a guy with a short haircut and put her arms around his neck. When he turned and she realized he wasn't her daddy, she shot away from him and ran over to Brent and put her arms around HIS neck. It was so funny. I still remember grabbing a stranger's hand in a store and that feeling I got when I realized that it wasn't my mother.
Sweet Tristan's favorite pastime at the condo. The wall behind the couch was all mirrors. Tristan loved to stand up on the couch and stare at the mirrors. He'd smile and let out big belly laughs. It was hysterical.
Mommy and her kiddos at the beach. Many of you know that potty training isn't going so well for Maura. We've tried her in Pullups for the past month to no avail. I decided that while we were at the beach in mostly tiled areas, we would go with just training pants. Well, my poor decision ushered in an unprecedented amount of accidents for us. Starting on Thursday night, while we were out shopping, Maura managed to fill her Pullup so full(probably because I had spent the whole day telling her she wasn't allowed to poo poo or pee pee in her bathing suit!) that the Pullup basically exploded, sending pee all over the floor of the Gymboree outlet. I whisked her out to the car for a change and had to dump pee out of her shoes. I had to dig into the bag of freshly purchased merchandise for a new outfit! On Friday night, I put her in training pants and she wet through them. I took them off and let her run free for a few minutes before bath time. BIG MISTAKE! She stood up and was covered from her bottom down with disgustingness. Brent gasped and said, "OH MY GOSH! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Maura looked down and immediately burst into tears. There's more poo poo stories to come, but I'll save it for the next post. Bet you can't wait!! And, on that note, I'll show you the "cake" I made for Brent. Yum.

Maura was so excited about opening presents. She's WAY into parties these days. Check out the video clip at the end of the post. When I put her down for a nap, I told her that when she woke up we'd have a party for Daddy. Well, I don't know what she expected, probably a circus tent like I constructed for HER party! When she walked out into the main room, she looked around and burst into tears. It didn't look like any party that she'd ever been to. There were no balloons, no streamers, no decorations of any type. We weren't able to convince her that this is how an adult's party looks until she saw the cake and presents. It was so funny. I guess being over the top about birthdays might raise the bar a wee bit too high when it comes to the types of parties that this little one might expect! Anywhoo, Maura opened all of Brent's presents in the time it took me to take this photo. NO LIE! We couldn't stop her!
My brother Jeff drove in for the evening to help celebrate Brent's birthday. He just loved Tristan, who he described as "chill." I guess you could say Tristan is "chill." In a strange twist of fate, Jeff is the sibling who has seen the kids the most since our move. We'll be seeing the rest of my clan next week,though, when we fly up for my cousin's wedding.
Maura checking out Brent's presents. She wasn't too impressed by anything. Nothing flashed, or made noise or anything!
She did stick around for all the opening, though, just in case it got more interesting.

Tristan and Maura with Uncle Jeff. What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

"I want a party!"