Vacation Pictures - Beach Edition

So far, I've posted Harbortown pictures and pool pictures but what's a beach vacation without some beach pictures?! 

Parker and Avery love the beach but I was unsure of how Liam would do. I presume this is his first time at the beach. He surprised us by LOVING the sand! He totally got the hang of it and how fun it is... and how tasty it isn't really fast!

Avery and Liam played pretty nicely together with a bunch of sand toys. This toy story splash buddies play set has been with us to the beach 5 times... best $12 I ever spent. Who knew making Woody slide down a 8 inch slide for 4 hours straight was entertaining... but let me tell you... it sure is when you're a toddler!

Parker brought his iron man dive sticks and to avoid having to send the coast guard out to search for his beloved dive sticks in the ocean, we made up a game in the sand! (You think I'm kidding.... what this mama wouldn't do to not have to buy another $9.99 set of these things... because you can't just have 1 or 2... you have to have them ALL in the mind of a 4 year old). Poppi and I tag teamed being the iron patriot because it took both our energy and some gatorade to keep up with the action!

When Daniel came Friday night, there was only one thing the kids wanted to do... UP UP! P and A are obsessed with being thrown in the ocean or pool. I need to crop this picture closer but I'm pretty impressed with my hub's child hurling abilities!

We took some beach walks...

Liam ate snacks...

Avery played with the water wheel... Liam observed while eating snacks in a bucket....

...then Liam ate snacks while falling out of said bucket.... and Avery continued to play with the water wheel.

Parker tried his hand at boogie boarding. It isn't his sport but he looked super fly carrying it above his head like a little surfer dude!

What's a trip to the beach without some body parts being buried?!

D and I enjoyed a nice beach walk... just the 2 of us! Even though it was short, it was a refreshing few minutes together. I love this man!

At one point I thought of buying a corral to enclose them all in so I could sit down and have an umbrella drink without the fear of a kid running away or drowning.... priorities people.

Dear Avery, I'm sorry for this picture when you're 16 but for now.... I'm sorry I'm not sorry. Cutest sandy butt EVER!

 We played water guns...

And splashed in buckets...

And smashed sand castles ... AKA Tony Stark's house...

... and Liam snacked... on cheddar bunnies thrown for the seagulls. Kid can eat.

That about sums up our time at the beach!

Vacation Pictures - Pool Edition

We did a lot of swimming on vacation! We stayed in a beautiful condo that was affiliated with the Westin next door so we got to use all their facilities. The kids loved their pool and koi pond.... Avery loved it so much she swam fell in it trying to touch the fish. My favorite part was the plush lounge chairs. I never did get to lay in them longer than 3 minutes but those 3 minutes were heavenly.

Parker continues to not wear his puddle jumper in the pool but stays in the 3 feet section unless he's got 1 on 1 attention in the deeper end. He seems to enjoy the weightless sensation of falling in the water and rarely spends time above the water! He finally mastered diving for his beloved iron man dive sticks!

Avery surprised us this trip by taking her puddle jumper off and swimming! Who knew she could swim?! This made it infinitely more stressful to be around the pool with 2 kids not in puddle jumpers and 1 who isn't really confident in the water yet but we made it work and the kids all had a blast in the pool!

Avery made quite a spectacle at the pool by yelling "up up!" over and over and over again. She wanted to be throw up in the air, flipped, you name it so she could swim back up to the surface only to yell it again and point to the sky. At one point, we may have had the whole pool deck and everyone at the pool bar starring at her. Whoops. I see some competition cheerleading or gymnastics in our future. Her back tuck was seriously impressive. She would come up to the surface still holding her toes. That's commitment right there.

Liam hasn't always been a huge fan of the pool. He much prefers to bat those beautiful blue eyes to fellow pool goers for snacks. While he still didn't LOVE the pool, he tolerated it much better this trip thanks to warmer water and lots of pool toys. He's starting to get the hang of the puddle jumper and preferred floating in it than to sitting in his baby float. Go L!

 Up next.... sandy faces and beach pictures!

That time we tried to take family beach pictures with 3 toddlers

We just got back from a long weekend in Hilton Head and it was beautiful! I love it there! If we win the lottery off those lottery tickets we don't buy, I'm buying a house there or at least a large condo. 

Every year we go, we take family beach pictures. We had them professionally done one year and it was worth EVERY penny! This year, we thought we'd go with an aqua, white and orange theme and just have someone on the beach snap one or 17 of the 7 of us. That pipe dream ended before we left the condo when it was evident, the kids were NOT going to cooperate. 

Parker refused to wear "a shirt with buttons" (his white collared shirt) and would only wear his lego crocs.... which make for super classy looking pictures. Avery insisted on wearing red sandals that are a size too small with her orange capri's that fit like pants because when will my 2 1/2 year old be out of 12 months bottoms?!?! I realize I could have {forced} them to wear my preapproved outfits but no one looks good in pictures crying. Parker had a recovering busted lip and Avery's eyes were bright red from swimming with her eyes open... we were a vision.

We scrapped the whole beach picture idea when we realized my mom's dress was 10 sizes too big and she was going to wear a super cute but glaringly not beach picturish dress. Instead we headed to Harbortown for some ice cream and Greg Russell songs.... come to find out, he was on vacation that week but we did find some ice cream. 

May I present you the Wise Family 2013 Family beach Picture.....

 ...and Parker.

In his defense, he was not crying, he simply stated "I don't want to be in the picture" and posed himself in the bench next to us like this. By the end of this evening, I felt the same way, dude!

So in conclusion... hire a professional photographer, pack back up outfits and forget posing... just play!

We DID have a fun night regardless of the family picture bomb. Here are a few fun moments:

Hello beautiful blue eyes!

Ice cream fun! .... One day I'll learn to buy longer dresses or at least think about pulling it down.

I am the classiest ice cream eater

Pick your battles, right?!

This little lady was a big fan of the birthday cake ice cream!

We have a picture just like this (with me in the same dress) for the last 3 years in a row! Maybe next year we'll mix it up and I'll wear something different... but probably not. Why fix a good thing?

My parents are pretty cute... and I wanna steal that dress.

Excuse my look of exhaustion... 3 toddlers are STRESSFUL around water... but holy cuteness. Could Liam look any more adorable!?!

I could eat her up!

Blurry but smiley! He did a slide himself! Just last week, he screamed hysterically sliding!

Nana's boy!

Poppi's girl!

Stay tuned for more Hilton Head beach and pool pictures!

Splash Pad Fun with Nana!

This morning we met my mom at Birkdale for some splash pad/Qdoba/Gymboree fun! And yes... I did have a queso burrito... well the parts that Liam didn't devour first! The kids prefer this splash pad because it's bigger than Blakeney's but smaller and less crowded than Stallings. As usual, the camera was in tow!

Ready, set, run!

Parker LOVED how high the water went!

Avery was mostly excited to chase birds and butterflies!

Little man isn't a huge fan of splashing water but he is a fan of snacks and stranger's attention so he worked the fenced in area for snacks and people to babble to.

Excuse the scratch... during a meltdown yesterday he mauled his handsome face :/

Parker ran back and forth through the water. I'm so proud of how far he's come! 2 years ago, he wouldn't touch this splash pad!

Avery enjoyed the water once Parker started having fun in it.

But was much more concerned that the birds she was chasing flew "up." One of life's many injustices, Avie girl!

The kids got their fill of nana hugs, some yummy Qdoba and Liam scored some precious new threads from Gymboree courtesy of a very generous nana! Overall, it was an excellent morning minus a slight Gymboree meltdown by the youngest 2. Thankfully, within minutes of being in the car, Avery and Liam passed out and Parker enjoyed his choice of movie on the drive home. I went through the Starbucks drive thru and got myself a coffee and Parker a cake pop since he was the only one awake. I enjoy treating him sometimes to special treats. I think quality time and gifts are how he most feels loved. Me? Do my dishes, vacuum or iron my clothes without me asking please?! My how my love language has changed after two three kids!

Thanks for spending the day with us, nana!