Yaaaaaay, Beach!

Capestravaganza 2010 is in full swing and we are having a great time! The kids did really well in the car for the 3 hour and 20 minute ride... a long time for little ones! We did have some complaining when Mairead realized that we were not on our way to McDonalds. She kept saying, "McDonalds. Give the lady some money.' But she was pretty excited when we arrived and had a whole new house to explore.



As soon as everyone was here, we headed to explore the beach. Mairead has been to the beach before and was really excited. She said, "Beach! Crabs. Lobsters. Jellyfish." The boys have never seen the beach, so it was cool to take them for the first time.



Ben, of course, set out to explore on his own as soon as we put him down.





Lily seemed unsure of why the hell we were all sitting in this giant sandbox.




Mike and Ben




Ben is in green for all of these.



Jack. Jen was tossing him up in the air.

Aaannnd, he has a bucket on his head. Won't keep his hat on, but a bucket is totally different.

Aunts are fun.

Jack with his soon-to-be aunt, Christin.

Two cool guys.

We gave this turtle float to Mairead and she in love with it. We have to bring it wherever she goes. When we got back to the house for lunch, she said to the turtle, "time for some juice, honey," and then shared her juicebox. Right now, the turtle is in her crib with her and is wearing her hat. She is supposed to be napping, but instead is curled up in the middle of the turtle and talking to it.

Two pictures that pretty much sum up the differences in Jack and Ben's personalities.

Ben, when he first saw the ocean...

Jack.

At first, Ben was a bit unsure of what the beach was all about.

They are having a lot of fun. Jen has taught Mairead to say, "yaaaaay, beach!" and, "Beach party, whoo hoo!" Jack is getting a little jealous of Lily because it appears that my mom loves Lily as much as she loves Jack, and that doesn't seem right to him. He does love Lily, though, and tries to play with her or snuggle with her when they are both down on the floor. Ben pretty much couldn't care less about Lily. When Mairead sees her, she says, "Oh, Lily. So cute!"

Mairead is talking a TON lately and today told me, "I go to the seashore." What?? Where the heck did you get that? It was very cute, though!

The weather is great and it is so fun to be able to spend all of this time with our kids and extended family. After the kids go to bed, we have been sitting around the fire pit trading stories and even making s'mores. Jen and Mike started us off with a great pancake breakfast today and now the kids are taking naps. I do have to say that getting three very young kids dressed and packed for the beach, transported to the beach, and then playing with them on the beach is pretty exhausting. But in a good way!