We got home last night from a fun trip to the beach! We have been looking forward to this trip for several months. David & I told Isaac about it way too soon because he has been asking if "today" is the day to go to the beach for months. I finally printed a 9-week (yes, nine) countdown chart and put it on the fridge! Next time, I think we'll wait until a few days before a big trip to tell Isaac. But, the upside of telling Isaac so early was that we had a lot of time to learn & talk about the beach. I think we've reserved and read every single beach, ocean, and marine animal book in the Fort Worth library system. :)
Isaac was so excited to leave! He sat on the bumper while Dave packed our Tahoe. When Dave told him that he should go play outside until we had to leave, Isaac said he was so excited that he just wanted to wait in his carseat. So, he buckled himself in and sat in his carseat the entire time Dave finished packing the car. :)
We drove to San Antonio the first night and stayed at a hotel in the Hill Country. They had fire pits outside where you could roast s'mores! Yum! (I love how Emma has marshmallow on her face.)
We swam in the outdoor pools the next morning. Emma loved the bubblers!
We left San Antonio around lunchtime and drove south. Around this time, Dave and I realized that we'd left our suitcase at home! We made a quick stop at Target for a pair of swim trunks for Dave and were set. :) We stayed at the same beach condos as the last time we went to Mustang Island in South Texas. I think Isaac was almost as excited about this walk-in shower as he was about the beach. :)
We checked into our condo on the Fourth of July. Of course, Isaac wasn't content to sit in the condo for too long and take pictures. :) So, we headed straight to the beach!
 |
| Emma's first time in the ocean! |
 |
| The lion and shark in Isaac's hands are his very favorite toys right now. Except when he was sleeping or eating, they were in his hands. Another guest at our resort commented to Isaac that he had a "cool shark and tiger"--Isaac was quick to correct him that it was a lion, not a tiger. :) |
 |
| In this picture, Isaac drug his lion from the sand castle he and Dave were building all the way to the water. He told us that the lines from the lion were the "pipes" to get water into the sand castle. |
One of my favorite things that we did at the beach was walk the beach when the sun was setting. Dave would bundle Emma up in a towel and carry her while Isaac raced ahead.
Isaac found a crab one night.
Emma got so excited when sea gulls flew near us. She would point at them and, by the end of our trip, was able to mimic their sounds really well!
Dave and Isaac made this shark chasing a small fish.
Dave took Emma out in the ocean several times to ride the waves, which she liked. Unless Isaac was playing right next to her, she wasn't too crazy about digging or playing in the sand. But, she loved chasing this ball in the surf and walking around on the sand.
 |
| Isaac and Daddy heading out to jump in the waves |
On our last full day at the beach, David sculpted this crab. Isaac said that the crab needed food to eat later that night, so he put "food" (piles of sand) in-between the crab's pinchers. :)
Isaac caught his first ghost crab that afternoon!
I don't have any pictures of our condo. There was a set of built-in bunk beds in the living room, and we let Isaac sleep on the top bunk. He loved it! Emma slept near him in a pack and play. One of my favorite memories from this trip was hearing Isaac and Emma giggle back and forth while they were going to bed at night & early in the morning when Emma would first wake up and try to wake Isaac up by standing and jumping in the pack and play and giggling.
We went to Snoopy's on our last evening for dinner.
The last time we went to Snoopy's, the owner announced that our food was ready by saying, "Isaac, it's time to eat" into the microphone. Isaac remembered that, so this time Dave asked the announcer to call Isaac's name when our food was ready. We were sitting outside, and Isaac's eyes got so big when he heard, "Isaac R, your food is ready!"
Right next to Snoopy's is Scoopy's, which is a little ice cream shop.
I'm sure Isaac wishes he could have eaten an ice cream cone this big. :)
We walked along the docks and waited for the sun to set after we ate our ice cream. The sunset was beautiful!
Our very last adventure was crab hunting (also known as crabbing). We left our condo around 9:30 on our last night and headed down to the beach. It was so dark! A family at a neighboring condo borrowed us their flashlights and a lantern.
We first caught several small ghost crabs, and then we saw some larger ones. Dave and Isaac were chasing one, and it ran under Emma's stroller. I was screaming so loud, especially when it ran out from under the stroller and right over my foot. Isaac looked at me and said, "Mommy, you can't go aaaaahhhhhh like that any more! You have to be brave. It will not pinch you." He was so serious! So, I decided to take Isaac's advice :) and chase crabs with him instead of just screaming. I later did catch a ghost crab and put him in the bucket with our shovel, and Isaac told me he was proud of me. :)
 |
| It was so late, but Emma was a trooper while we hunted for crabs. |
Can you spot Isaac and Dave in the ocean? Dave also dug up a few hard-shell crabs in the ocean.
The last time we came to the beach, we had just lost two adoptions. We were so excited about adopting a precious boy and girl, and losing both of their adoptions in the span of a month was crushing. Through all my tears, God gently reminded me that I still had Isaac and that my family--even though it didn't look like I dreamed--was a gift to be celebrated. So, we planned a beach trip to celebrate our family of three. I had no idea on our first trip to the beach that two years later we'd come again as a family of four.
We are so thankful for a sweet time away with our precious son and daughter...
...and the family God has given us.
