beach and lake

We took another whirlwind trip to the East Coast a few weeks ago. We flew to visit Dan's parents for the first half of the week, then drove to see my grandparents for the second half. We did a similar trip last year and two years ago. Combining our family trips saves lots of travel time and flight expenses (especially now that Mae is two and needs her own plane ticket)!

Mae absolutely loved visiting the beach with GranE ("Deenie") and Batman. She splashed around in the water, built sand castles (pronounced "sand CAStles"), dug holes, and jumped in the "big waves" and "tiny waves".

As the tides receded each day, they left a large shallow pool at the top of the beach. The water in the tide pool was a bit warmer than the ocean and the perfect depth for a toddler; it was the ocean equivalent of a baby pool. Mae took turns towing and being towed on the boogie board. We even found a little hermit crab that we tormented by making him ride on our plastic boat. Mae liked watching him scuttle around on the sand, asking to see "more walking crab."

We spent a bit of time each morning at the beach and then went back to the house for nap time. We all got to spend some quality time together with Tim, Colleen, and Pepper! Mae was both obsessed with and very timid around Pepper this visit.

Half way through our vacation, we drove to meet up with the rest of my family (minus Christopher, who had to work) at my grandparents' house. We filled our days with trips to the pool, boat rides, card games, and mini golf! Mae was excited to see "Mop" and "Pop" and constantly asked about them, saying, "Mop doing? Pop doing?" Since the, she's pointed out every gray-haired person we see and calls them Mop and Pop!

Mae and Ollie had lots of fun playing at the little beach at the edge of the lake. They spent an hour getting their feet dirty and then washing them off with a little bucket and sprayer set.

On our last day, we drove back to spend the night with GranE and Batman before catching a VERY early flight home. We had such a nice visit with both families! Thanks for a great vacation!