The rest of our beach days

The rest of our beach time passed in a blur of perfect weather, warm water, sand everywhere, and fish for just about every meal.

Dorothy kept us at the damn pool all day long, but we didn't really mind.

 Especially Jack.

 I spent at least 2 days like this.

 Every night, we cleaned up for dinner.

 At our favorite restaurant, Dorothy got restless, so I took her for a walk with Cooper, and we happened upon a children;s performer singing, playing with a parachute, and blowing bubbles.  Thanks to their Little Gym experience, Dorothy and Cooper immediately sat down next to all the other kids and joined in.

 There was even hula hooping.

 As always, we took a family picture by the restaurant sign.

 And bought souvenirs, discovering Dorothy;s completely adorable love of Calico Critters which always make me think of this truly awesome children's book: Daphne's Book.

 Forced posing

 The next day, Jon and Caleb took Harry and Jack to a nearby barrier island to see alligators and birds, and Ben and I took the babies to ride ponies.

 We got the kids dubiously colored drinks at our awesome lunchtime burger place.

 And let them play on a sandy playground where of course we made them pose together again in our quest for a good picture of all 4 of them.  Spoiler alert:  IT NEVER HAPPENED.

 Dorothy and Cooper enjoyed some beach time.

 We went out to our fanciest (but not our favorite) dinner.

 And even though everyone had screens, it was kind of crazy.

 Afterward the kids watched Monsters University poolside.

And OF COURSE we mad them pose in their matching shirts.

 Sunday was our last full day, and we were super aware of that fact.  We even took a picture of our beach chairs.

 And I took tons of pictures of everyone in the sand and sea

 We had lunch at Stu's Surfside Subs which was awesome and amazing and I can't wait to go back.  Dorothy rocked her PB&J

 Then Ben took all 4 kids back to the hotel to clean out the car all by himself, and Jon, Caleb, and  walked back along the beach, about 3 miles-ish. But first, we went to a ridiculously awesome bar with like 25 alcoholic slushie machines.   AND GOT SO DRUNK.

 When we stumbled home about 2 hours later, Ben ditched me with all the kids before I could say pina colada.

 I sobered up in time for Jon and Caleb to take us out for an awesome pizza dinner.

 Ben showed off his awesome tan lines.

 We tried again for awesome family beach shots.  Erm.

But seriously, everything was awesome.

Monday, Dorothy and I were sad to say goodbye to our lovely view

 And our jumpy beds.

 And our favorite breakfast.

 And the beautiful ocean.

 While Cooper was digging a hole in the sand behind our beach chairs, a tiny baby sea turtle climbed out of its nest and over his lap and marched resolutely and adorably to the water.

 All the kids and sweet lifeguard flanked it and guarded its journey.

 He made it!

 And Cooper did some celebratory yoga.

 I have a thousand pictures on my camera of me trying to get my phone back from a kid who tried to take my picture and now looks like they are going to ruin my phone.

 But this one of me and Jon is cute.

And then, we had to wash off all the sand, load all our shit in the car, and say goodbye to Jon and Caleb, always sad.

We knew we would be so bummed to leave my brother and the beach, so we planned a really fun multi-day drive home to extend the trip and keep our spirits high.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!