vacation = the beach!

Well, it's hard to know where to begin...

Mojo & Dado arranged a perfect family beach vacation for us all - complete with beach toys galore, dinner reservations at some of our favorite places (and one new favorite!), a tee time for the big boys, and an order for excellent weather all week! We even had a signature drink for the week:

(don't ask me, it was a bunch of yummy juices and rum...!)

Anyway, the beach was gorgeous, but most of all it was the company we kept that made it all so great!

Here's an idea of what we did all week: set up camp on the beach and hit the waves!

and a few (just a few!) of my favorite photos...

Here is our daily beach camp:

umbrellas, chairs, towels, snacks, drinks, books, sunscreen...

... oh, and lots and lots of toys!!!

There was a new sand castle every day:

But once the sand started getting into all our crevices, we jumped in the ocean and over the waves!

Some of us needed a little help getting over the waves:

But Hamp really took on the role of resident surfer this year... with a little help from Uncle Alec, he learned how to catch a good wave all by himself and loved every minute of it!

In the evenings, once we were beached out for the day and had swum to our hearts' content... we would gather for happy hour on the porch and watch the beach clear out and the tide come in.

The time spent together as a family was quite special - we laughed and chatted, tried to give "Baby E" a real name, had a couple of great home-cooked meals (thanks J & A for the shrimp & fish tacos - they were great!!!) and stayed up late playing games.

The boys with Aunt J and their future cousin!

Everyone had a "favorite part" of the week... surfing the waves, swimming in the pool, happy hour, good food, and beach camp were all on the list. But my favorite (and here's where the "momma" in me comes out!) was by far watching my boys play together on the beach.

My two favorite people at my favorite place!

Thank you Mojo & Dado for an amazing week at the beach!

It certainly could not have been any better - and I will cherish these memories always!