#126 - St. Simon's Beach Trip

Well-rested (kind of) and tan, we are home from our beach vacation! We spent a week in St. Simon's Island, Ga with Heather and her family - Mike, Andrew, Luke and Lauren. It was a great family vacation. We rode bikes, walked on the pier, played on the beach, played at the pool, visited a water park (twice), and had nightly competitions on board games. The Fleming kids are so sweet, and the perfect playmates for Owen. Owen affectionately called Andrew and Luke "the boys" and all week referred to them as such: "where are the boys?....I play with the boys.....boys are napping....etc." Even now that we are home, Owen still asks about the boys.

I say that we are semi-rested only because our nights weren't that fun. Owen didn't sleep well at all, and I ended up in his room, sleeping with him in his bed every night. On top of that, the master bedroom was taken over by flying ants most nights, and Lou and I were not happy. And, finally, on the last day of the vacation, Lou twisted weirdly, and injured his back. Not only could he not walk or sit well, but sleeping that night was nearly impossible. Fortunately though, we had a day and a half to get back into the groove of Savannah life, and all is well.

Today was a huge day for Lou and his family. The Spanish soccer team won the World Cup! Today, all three of us dressed in Spain's colors, and I cooked two different Spanish meals to celebrate. Viva espana!

On to picture time.....

First up, Owen body surfing on the beach. I can't believe how much more comfortable and adventurous he is in the water now. Just a few weeks ago, he was afraid to get into the water even up to his knees. By the end of the trip, he was dunking his head and blowing bubbles!

Here's a picture of Heather and me. Tuesday was Heather's birthday, and we celebrated all day long! That night, we walked to dinner at the Crab Trap, and this was taken on our way home. (Sorry for the original typo - yes, it's crab, not crap)

St. Simon's has a really great water park for the kids. It's nothing too fancy, and just big enough for the little kids. Owen had a blast!

Here he is going down the water slide next to Luke. Lou was there "just in case" but by the second trip to the water park, he didn't want us anywhere near him when he went down the slide.

Lou and I on the beach....

Here are the four children - Andrew, 6; Luke, 4, Owen, almost 2; and Lauren, 14 months. Heather made each of their outfits! Aren't they adorable?

Mommy and Owen.
And, probably one of my favorite pictures of all time of Lou and Owen.

Finally - the little guy running on the beach. He was a happy little kid on this trip. Just seeing him laugh and have fun was the real highlight of the vacation. :)

#120 - Summer's here!

First Communions are done. Graduations are done. Memorial Day is next week. Must mean summer is here!

Yesterday, we loaded up the family and headed out to the beach, Cocoa included. This was the first time that we had gone to the beach since last summer, so Owen probably had no recollection of what it was. On the way there, he kept asking where was the "wa wa", and when we walked over the dune and he saw the expanse of water ahead of him, he started waving and said, "hi wa wa" over and over. He was so excited. We undressed him, applied the second coat of sunscreen and got his bathing suit on. But, as is typical of him, he refused to go play until he could eat a snack, as you can see below.

Then, it was off to the water - he was a little timid and unsure of the ocean's waves, and would stand on the edge of the waterline watching the waves come in and out. Before long, as the water would recede back to the ocean, he'd run forward and wait there. But, once the next wave came forward, he'd turn and run as fast as he could back towards the dry sand, laughing and giggling the entire way. This back and forth into the ocean kept him happy for about an entire hour!

He was also captivated by the driftwood and seaweed, and by the end of the day had collected quite a collection, of which he used to help him draw in the sand.

The cute swim shorts are courtesy of the Fleming boys. We learned the hard way that they are still too big on him, and the water weighed them down, therefore causing our sweet little boy to walk around the beach like a thug.

We truly don't know who had more fun - Owen or Cocoa. Lou let her off the leash a few times, and she ran up and down the beach like a little puppy, thrashing through the waves, and having a blast. Of course, that only made Owen laugh even more.

Pretty soon, we relocated back to the tidal pools, and we got to relax while Owen played with the sand.

It was just the right amount of water for him to splash around in without feeling overwhelmed.

And of course, like a typical little boy, it wasn't long before he was slinging the mud/sand all over the place. By the end of the day, he had dried sand caked in his hair and every fold in his body.

His shorts got so bad (we were pulling them up every 30 seconds or so), that Lou finally suggested that I take the rubber band in my hair and use it to cinch the waistband around the swim trunks. Worked like a charm!

And, to prove to you that he really did inherite his Mommy's wavy/curly hair, this is what it looked like when we got home from the beach!

We had a great time! Both Owen and Cocoa were sound asleep within 60 seconds of us leaving the beach. They were worn out!

#69 - Home from the Beach

We're home from the beach - well rested, sun tanned, and content.  We had a GREAT time at Hilton Head with our good friends the Tooles (Eric, Claire, Marshall-6, Callie-4 and Henry-almost 2) and the Gammons (Chad, Jennifer, Charlie-almost 3 and Blake-4 months).  Eric, Chad and I first met almost ten years ago at SunTrust in the Gwinnett Commercial days.  It's awesome that we all are still friends.

Hilton Head was so much fun.  We stayed in a fabulous beach house right next to the ocean, with a private pool (a rather small pool, yet big enough for us), an awesome location, and tons of room for all twelve of us.  We ate, drank, swam in the pool, swam in the ocean, ate, drank, rode bikes, walked on the beach, ate, drank and slept.  Usually in about that order.  The weather was perfect.  One day it got really hot - we had to cut our bike ride pretty short after we all started over heating.  But, overall, a perfect vacation for us.  We can't wait to do it again!

Owen enjoyed the beach.  As is typical these days, he tries to put everything in his mouth.  That included ocean water and fistfuls of sand.  Yuck.  Hilton Head is great because during low tide, there are all these little tidal pools on the beach, and they ended up being the perfect, contained spot for O to play.  

A picture of little Blake.  He's such a sweet heart.  He hardly ever cries and just loved being outside in his little swing enjoying the ocean air.

Here's Lou on one of our bike rides.

Callie and Claire in the pool.  Callie's doll, Arial, was a hit amongst all the boys, Owen included.

Chilling in the pool....

From left, Claire, Owen, Henry, Eric, Callie, Marshall, Chad, Charlie and Jenn.

Marshall and Henry hanging out with Eric.

Owen got to taste his first ice-cream cone.  He's inherited the gene for ice-cream obsession, we believe.  He gets it from his dad, who is known to have had three bowls of ice-cream in one day. One for breakfast, even.

Mr. Henry looking too cool for school in his Spiderman googles.

Chad and Cutie-Pie Charlie

Jennifer and Blake chillaxin on the beach.

Teaching Owen how to drink from a solo cup - getting him ready for football season....

Callie having fun in a tidal pool.  The funny thing is that she and the other kids did not have on their bathing suit and were supposed to "stay dry" that night.  Ha ha!

Owen and me on a walk at night.

It was pretty windy that night!

On Thursday morning, we went to Harbourtown for breakfast, and then walked around the Harbour.  

Owen enjoying the swings in the playground at Harbourtown.  What you don't see here is about 3 seconds after this picture was taken he fell forward, and had it not been for Lou's quick grab, would have ended up on his head!  We'll be sticking to the swings with straps from now on....

Here's the view from our bedroom balcony.

And, one last picture of the Saez boys in the ocean.

This afternoon, while I was unpacking, this is where I found Owen.  That boy will climb into anything!

Still loving that truck.

My sweet sister took care of Cocoa for us this week, so today, Owen and I met Jenifer and Mom in Brunswick to pick up the dog.  Owen loved seeing his aunt and Nana and had tons of kisses for them!

Okay, back to the real world for us now.  Sorry for the incredibly long post.

Love,

Katie, Lou and Owen