Pool, Beach, Repeat

Hey guys! I am currently experiencing some issues with my blog on the back end (a continuation from last week’s frustrations) so today’s post is coming to you a day late and I am still in the process of trying to get everything running smoothly. I was able to upload the pics in this post but can’t share any more pictures or make some necessary updates and the issue also seems to be impacting blog comments but I’m hoping to get this fixed ASAP! I just want to keep you in the loop since things may feel a little up-in-the-air around here right now! 

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Hey friends! How are you guys doing? Did you have a good weekend? Ever since we arrived at my parents’ place, it feels like we’ve been living in the water and late last week we made the decision late last week to extend our initial stay by a couple of days and I am so, so glad we did. The pool and beach serves as the perfect built-in entertainment for the boys that allows us to keep our distance from others and though we’ll be heading back to North Carolina tomorrow, until then we’ll continue our daily pool and beach rotation!

Saturday

Not-so-shockingly our Saturday primarily consisted of pool + beach time! We kicked things off with a family walk with the boys that started out great but ended up a hot mess.

(This picture was obviously snapped at the beginning of our walk before we were all sweating our faces off and our boys were whining up a storm.)

Ryder’s stroller strike continues and while he can handle riding in a stroller for short walks, when we try to push him for a longer walk, he loses interest and wants out which results in a rather fussy experience even when we throw all of the snacks, books and toys his way. Throw some Florida heat in the mix and all emotions seem to escalate quickly! We ended up covering 3.5 miles (it was an out-and-back walk, otherwise we would’ve cut it short) and had to laugh when we arrived home because my mom commented that we all looked like we had been put through the ringer. Phew!

We were all more than ready for a dip in the pool after a sweaty walk and quickly changed into our bathing suits. My parents joined us at the pool for a bit and then we all made our way onto the beach for the afternoon where we were joined by my sister and her family. My brother-in-law has his beach set up down to a science and set up a big canopy and cooler and we all assembled chairs in the shade which I swear makes the biggest difference and extends our beach time by hours. Shade all the way!

The tide pools from last weekend all dissipated through the week but Ryan helped the boys dig a hole which served as the perfect kid entertainment.

I was also in heaven swimming in the ocean and it felt so good to float and splash around with this baby belly. I feel far from weightless these days so swimming and floating feels like a dream on my body.

We wrapped up out outside time with another quick dip in the pool before dinner.

Doesn’t Ryder look like quite the little surfer dude these days? Apparently that’s what no haircut since February and Florida sun + salty air will do to him. I kind of love it!

Our evening meal was actually a rather special one since it included snapper caught by my dad and Ryan. They went out fishing on Friday and we all loved sharing their fresh catch that my mom prepared in a lemon butter sauce that was unreal. I sure do miss Florida seafood!

We’ve been on a bit of a dessert every night train since arriving in Florida and that continued with an ice cream sandwich bar where my brother-in-law cut up a variety of ice cream sandwiches and bars and we all went to town. Have you guys tried Ben & Jerry’s Pint Slices? Oh my gosh they are so good! The Tonight Dough flavor was out of this world delicious!

Sunday

Sunday morning began with a fantastic brunch at Ross and Leslie’s house. They treated all of us to banana pancakes, a cheesy spinach frittata and fruit salad and we had fun hanging out and easing into the day. Chase made sure to pack his critter house and nets after we told him Aunt Leslie has a lot of lizards in her backyard and we left with two new lizard friends dubbed Changey Color Tail (because he changed colors in the bug house) and Longy (for obvious reasons — he’s quite long)!

After brunch, it was back to the pool where we splashed and played until it was time for lunch.

You guys, Ryder is SO into pool tricks with Ryan right now. We call this one “straight legs” and every time it’s over he says, “More, more!” on repeat. These two guys have quite the arsenal of tricks in their back pocket these days and Ryder grins the entire time!

We packed a little cooler and had a lunchtime picnic by the water before heading up to my parents’ place for Ryder’s nap and some downtime.

While Ryder napped, I got some severely neglected work done and then it was back out to the beach! Chase spent the vast majority of our early evening beach time digging for sand crabs (also known as sand fleas) and eventually had all of us in on the sand crab treasure hunt.

Another dip in the pool was in order before dinner on Sunday night but this one involved lots of pool races! Ryan and Ryder vs. Chase and Pop!

Clearly everyone worked up an appetite and we were all more than ready for dinner. Post-dinner plans looked like hanging out in our pajamas and watching the kids play together. Callie is in love with Sadie and wants to follow her everywhere. It’s so darn cute even though Sadie seems to be less than interested in her little cousin, much like she is with her own two brothers. Sadie has quite the fan club in our family and she could not care less. Ha!

And on that note, I think we’re all caught up! I hope you guys are doing well this week and I hope to check in with you guys again soon!