The girls {Nora especially} have been asking about going to the beach for awhile now. We've never taken them to the beach, or anywhere actually, except to visit family out of town. The closest thing to a beach that we've been to are the sand dunes in Michigan when Nora was two years old. She hated the sand and refused to walk in it, even in her shoes, complaining of "icky feet" the entire time.
Well, it happened to be that a rental house in Port Aransas was available on a weekend that both our family and our good friends' family could get down there... so we booked it. Right after VBS was over on Friday, we loaded up two cars with 4 kids, lots of food & snacks, plenty of entertainment and started the 7-8 hour drive to the Gulf Coast. The trip down wasn't too bad! Of course, our girls didn't sleep at all the entire ride. The kids watched a couple movies and we stopped a few times to eat and/or use the restroom. We got to the house with just enough time to unload everything, attempt to get our kids to actually sleep a little, and rest up for the busy beach days ahead.
Our cuties at the Whatabeach House in Port Aransas, ready for some fun in the sun!
Photo by Leslie Eure Photography
Waking up & getting ready for a day at the beach!
When we first got to the beach in the morning, the girls were very excited and no one complained about the sand on their feet! Janie's first words were "it smells like poop!" but she didn't skip a beat and started playing in the water right away. Their favorite things to do on the beach were jump over the waves, attempt to build sandcastles, look for seashells & sand dollars, find those little clammy creatures under the sand, and of course, snacks and more snacks. See beach pictures below for the fun!
We made it!!
Snacking under the tent.
Playing in the sand.
Building sand castles with daddy.
A great first day! {Only one meltdown.}
Ready for a fun second day!
It was a Happy Fathers Day for these two all-star dads!
Picking up little clammy creatures.
The way the beach is set up at Port Aransas, you can drive right up to where you want to park for the day. It sounds a little intimidating with little kids, but it was oh-so-convenient for many reasons.
1. The Wind
If we didn't have the two cars on either side of the tent, it would have blown away. We saw tons of broken tents along the road. The wind was very strong on our two days at the beach {yes, sand went everywhere} and the guys had to tie the tent to the cars to keep it stable.
2. The Stuff
Another reason we loved the drive-up beach is that we could unload and reload soooo much easier. The snacks, drinks, chairs, towels, toys... it was all right there. Taking two families of four to the beach means there are LOTS of things to carry back and forth. This was crucial.
3. The Kids
Whose kids fall asleep in the car? Well, not mine. But... if they do {and our friends' kids did} you can enjoy the beach while they nap, right next to you! Also, if your child has a major meltdown or needs to take a rest, you can just pop the back of the car open and there you have a nice place for someone to snooze with a beach view. We had to utilize that feature on day one!
The set up on the drive-up beach.
It was super windy all weekend - the kite basically flew itself!
{Nora was still nervous about the wind & kite flying experience in general.}
We had two full days in Port Aransas and spent both days at the beach through the late afternoon. At the house in the evenings, the kids played with the games at the house and rode around on their scooters outside. We cooked all of our meals at the house and spent the evenings watching the kids play, looking at the stars, and playing cards. When the kids got tired, they made their way to their shared room {double bunk beds!} to fall asleep, which worked a lot better after we deemed it the "quiet room" and let them go to bed when they were ready. Sometimes they outlasted some of the adults!
Snuggled up watching a show.
After our fun two days at the beach, we had to start the long trek home. We had such a fun time on our first beach trip! The girls took home some sea shells and pink cheeks as souvenirs. We can't wait to come back to the beach again soon!
