We snuck away for a little anniversary celebration. Oh...and these two tagged along :)
I looked into surprising J with a weekend away, but didn't know what to do with the girls. So I quickly decided to scrap my ideas and go celebrate our anniversary as a family. I've met a sweet girl this year through blogging who got married the same week as us and celebrates it with her kids. I love that idea--celebrating the anniversary of your family with your family :)
We were one of the first people on the beach that morning. Mostly because we were the only ones awake at the crack of dawn. See, we decided to rough it and go camping. What we didn't know was the 'campground' was a parking lot for RV's. We died laughing when we pulled up. We went back to the actual campground to talk to the lady who set up our reservation and she said, "Yeah...I didn't want to say anything and scare you." She offered us a spot in the wooded area, but we opted for the parking lot/sand dune since it was literally right on the beach. So we set up camp among the serious RV'ers, met a lovely couple, Jim and Sallie, who offered their fire and company, and were the first ones awake since everyone else was snug in their beds.
This pensive look on Hayden's face was so curious to me, then I went in for a closer look:
She was trying to 'kiss the sand'. I don't know. Then she didn't know what to do and didn't dare open her mouth. Silly kid.
My main objective was to take a nap on the beach. I woke up to someone laughing about the 'sun bathing baby' and found Hayden completely zonked out in the sand. I'm glad they woke me up so I could put a towel under her and an umbrella over her. Silly kid.
Where was Abbey this whole time? That kid is a fish!! She finally caught our love for the water. She wanted to walk me over to see the lighthouse and it took us 15 minutes to make the three minute walk. She seriously could not stay out of the waves. She'd get out and start walking with me, notice a wave, and go right back in. {side note: she just walked in the room and said "My heart has a bad feeling. My heart is choking because I need some water with ice in it." What?!?} Anyway, we eventually got there and Abbey dared me to jump off the pier like the other teenagers loitering about. I pretended I was scared so that she would egg me on some more. Little does she know I LOVE jumping off things into water. Eventually I got a running start and dove head first into the water. Coolest Mom Ever Status: Solidified.
It's safe to say we found the best ice cream in town. The little place totally reminded me of La Beau's in Bear Lake--all the sun-kissed families enjoying a treat after a day in the water. Abbey charmed the lady into putting a cherry on top for her. That girl always gets what she wants.
One evening a lady walked by, saw our tent in the shadow of a $100,000 RV the size of our old apartment in St Louis and said, "It just doesn't seem fair does it?" Then she saw the kids and said, "You all slept in that tent together?" then just busted up laughing. So did we. It did look pretty pathetic. Even more so the next morning as we packed up in the rain at 7 am after being hit by a storm all night. But overall, it was a fantastic little getaway.