Pool & Beach Trips

We made two trips to Hilton Head this summer and both visits we enjoyed lots of pool time and a few trips to the beach.  It was Luke's first time swimming in the pool and he loved it!  The first time down to HHI the pool was still a little chilly but by the time we were there the end of July it was nice and warm!  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Luke experiencing the pool for the first time... very bummed about that but take my word for it, he LOVED it!!  He splashed and would laugh and loved "sitting" on the steps like a big boy!  The big boys also loved every second of the pool time... they both have gotten so good at swimming with just swimmies and it's kind of nice to be able to let them go in and swim without having to hang on an adult!!  We took Chase's swimmies off a few times in July and he actually got the hang of swimming on his own... although he hated every second of it because the confidence isn't quite there yet! 

This summer was the first time Jacob felt comfortable enough to jump into the pool all by himself.  He would jump, go under water and come back up!  He was so proud of himself and once he did it a few times there was no stopping him.  I love how tight he closes his eyes even before jumping!!

This summer was also Luke's first time to the beach... I was not sure how he was going to react to the waves and to the feel of the sand but he loved it!!  He would sit in the shallow water and loved the feeling of the waves coming in and water going back out. 

He loved feeling the sand in between his fingers and toes.  I was surprised that he didn't try to eat the sand more than he did.... we really only had one time and he hated it!!  He cried and cried because he did not like the sand in his mouth (thank goodness!). :)

A few times he even got brave enough to crawl away from me and head in his own direction!  One time he had a few bikers stop just to watch this tiny little thing crawling in the middle of the beach, as happy and carefree as he could be!

The big boys loved the beach, like always!  They are getting braver and braver about the waves and wanting to out deep with Daddy.  Jacob loved chasing the waves and letting the waves chase him!  They both also really enjoyed all the room to dig and just be boys!

Beach trips are hard... the time it takes to get everything together, the sunscreen, the drive, the cleaning up and changing at the showers, dragging all the gear back to the car... getting home right at lunch time... but with as hard as it is we always love our trips to the beach and we have so much fun!!