A Silver Lining (6/25/2012)

Today when we looked off our balcony at the ocean, the waves looked a bazillion times better.  Smaller and not as rough as the past two days.  Still, the flag pole near our house showed two red flags.  Double bummer.  We decided to go down to the beach anyway...it was just getting so old only getting to play in the pool.  Well, when we got to the beach, we were surprised to see only one red flag blowing in the breeze and crowds of people playing in the surf.  So back to the house we went to grab our life vests and boogie boards and to let the rest of the gang know the Gulf was open for business!!  

The waves were definitely less crazy than the past two days.  There was still a strong side current, but nothing that seemed to worry Mom and Dad, so we were granted entrance to the great Gulf.  I went first.  I'll admit I was tentative about getting in.  I mean I saw how the waves were tossing around Mr. Dave yesterday, and he's no small guy.  But after Mom showed me that you could get an awesome ride even off the tinier waves that were breaking right on the shore, I got up the nerve to venture in and man, did I have a great time.  Bummer of it all, no pictures to share.  Mom didn't bring the camera down in the beginning because she knew she would really have to pay attention to us.  But let me paint a picture for you...I rode wave after wave with the biggest, ear-to-ear grin on my face.

Eventually, Lizzie and I moved on to playing in the sand.  Seriously, there is something about digging in sand for crabs and sand dollars.  It was during this time that Mom and Dad found out that the one red flag we could see posted on the beach was not the "real" flag posting for the day.  It was really a two red flag day....a no swim day.  But since we were on a private beach, the life guards could do nothing but warn us not to go in.  I guess it's a good thing I didn't know all of this beforehand.  I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to go in know that there was still a danger of riptides. 

Now here's the funny thing.  Mom being mom, she was all bummed that she had no pictures of Lizzie and I boogie boarding, so she sent Dad back to the house to grab the camera.  And then she asked Lizzie and I to go back in to the waves for a photo shoot.  Can we say crazy lady?!  Well, I wasn't playing any of her reindeer games.  No siree, Bob.  Lizzie, on the other hand, agreed to go back in for a couple of rides.  So here you have it....Mom endangering Lizzie's life to get pictures of her boogie boarding on a two red flag day.  Can we say Mom of the Year?!

Heading out to catch a wave!!

Catching a wave with Jamison.

Debby Downer (6/24/2012)

Well, tropical storm Debby's still hanging around off shore.  The weather people aren't quite sure what she's going to do.  Some say she's headed to west to Texas.  Others say she's going to go east over Florida.  And still others think she will head north and hit near us.  All we can do is sit and wait and hope she doesn't ruin our vacation.

Today was another double red flag day....but when we got to the beach we saw only one, so some of our crew took the boogie boards out for a spin.  They managed to catch some awesome rides despite the strong current.  Check it out!

Adam catching a wave.

Mr. Dave gets an awesome ride!

Seeing as the current was rather strong and I wasn't in the mood to be swept out to sea, I stayed close to shore with most of the other kids.  Maddie continued to play her wave keep-away game with Jamison.  I spent some time jumping waves with Daddy and then hung out on the beach and played in the sand.  Looks like we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings us.  In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures to enjoy.

Making a sandcastle.

Jumping waves with Daddy.  If I didn't hold on, I would have been swept away!

Maddie posing on the beach.

Maddie and Jamison getting ready to run from the wave.

We're Back.... (06/23/2012)

Yeah.  You can take that in so many ways.  We're back to blogging.  Back to keeping you updated on our lives.  And it just makes sense that we kick off our "back to blogging" by telling you about our annual beach trip.

This year the trip has moved south a bit.  Okay, actually quite a bit.  Instead of being holed up in the car with Mom and Dad for 26 hours, we drove for only 11 hours.  Seriously, it's amazing how knocking 15 hours off a trip makes for happier (puke-free) kids.  Ahem.  Mom and Dad, I hope you remember this!!

Anyway, as I was saying, this year's beach trips took us to the Gulf coast of Alabama.  Now, Mom and Dad had warned us that this beach trip would be a little different than our past trips to North Carolina.  They said the water would be warmer than the Atlantic Ocean (a plus), and that the waves would be small and calm.  (Another plus...I don't like being tossed around by the waves.)  Sounded like paradise to me!

But what they failed to mention was a little thing named Debby...a tropical storm forming in the Gulf just south of where we were headed.  Not sure what they were thinking, driving us straight into a potentially bad situation.  All I have to say is, when we finally got to the Gulf Shores, this is what we saw:

Now seriously, do those look like small, calm waves?!  I think not.  Seriously, they weren't.  In fact, they were the kind of waves that came with riptides and dangerous sea creatures.  This is not the beach trip I pictured in my mind.  Where are the happy families frolicking in the surf?  Where's the sun?  And where are the small, calm waves?!?!

Since the double red, no swimming flags were posted on the beaches, we were not allowed to go in.  Of course, this didn't keep us from enjoying the surf at the shore line.  While some people collected shells, others of us came up with a game...keep away from the crashing waves.  It was actually quite fun.  Because the waves were so crazy big and strong, they would send water shooting up on the beach super fast.  Most of the time we were not able to keep ahead of the water and we ended up pretty wet.

Well, here's hoping tomorrow is a little brighter...in more ways than one. :)