The Lee Family: The Beach!!

After Meeting on Sunday, we loaded up our cars and had lunch at the Fish House with a bunch of folks from the Meeting, which was a fun way to catch up. After lunch, Connie, the girls and I loaded into Connie's car and we followed CK and his dad to Daytona Beach. The drive was about 1 1/2 hours and we entered the older part of Daytona Beach and Connie told the girls and I all about the different restaurants and places they would take CK and Cynthia each summer they visited Daytona Beach. It was fun to get a sense of their summer vacations from when CK was a boy! We arrived at our hotel, The Shores, and checked into our rooms. Our rooms ended up being just down the hall from each other. Even before our bags were on the ground, the girls were both in their swimsuits and ready to go to the beach! After we got settled a little, we all headed down to the beach. Sofia immediately headed into the water while Olivia had a ball running around and around on the sand. Almost as soon as we arrived, Sofia met a little friend who she played and swam with and who had a mother who was drunk and talked our ears off. The little girl was a year older than Sofia but they hit it off and included Olivia, so everyone was happy. The girls had fun and enjoyed stretching their legs for awhile before we headed inside, got cleaned up and walked to Grandma and Grandpa's room for pizza they ordered.

The next day, we all met downstairs at the hotel restaurant for breakfast, which ended up being delicious. Following breakfast, we got ready for another fun day at the beach. The Shores offered beach umbrellas and lounge chairs that we could rent for the entire day so we could enjoy the shade while the kids swam and played in the sand. It was the perfect set up! Just after we arrived at the beach, Olivia wanted to go back to the hotel and enjoy the pool. She wanted nothing to do with the ocean and the beach in general. I could not convince her to stay and play at all, so Connie headed back to the pool with her and watched as she swam and had fun. I couldn't understand why she seemed almost scared of the beach. The rest of the time we were at Daytona, Olivia would only swim in the pool. Finally, on the final day, I convinced her to come to the beach with us and then learned why she preferred the pool. She was afraid of the sand and "what lived under it." On that first afternoon that we were at the beach, I showed Olivia the little clams that come out of the sand when the tide comes in and then pull themselves back into the sand when the tide starts to go out. She thought that something lived under the sand and pulled those little clams down into the sand to eat them. She was worried that whatever it was that did that would do it to her too! Poor thing! I never realized that that is what she thought. I explained it all again, and I think she understood how the clams weren't being pulled down by something, but I guess our next visit to the beach will be the real test.

We enjoyed every day at the beach and Sofia literally spent the entire day running around on the sand, swimming, and building sand castles. At one point, we buried Sofia and made her into a mermaid. I really wished Olivia had been there to be a mermaid too, but hopefully next time. CK also bought cheap boogie boards and she and CK spent hours riding waves too. Meanwhile, Olivia stuck near the pool with Grandma and Grandpa or spend time watching My Little Pony up in Grandma's room. She had a ball swimming in the pool and playing on the little kid play area next to the pool or getting into the hot tub.

One night we ate at Aunt Catfish's Seafood Restaurant which ended up being delicious! Even though we arrived early, it was about a 30-minute wait but was well worth it. Otherwise, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel's restaurant and ate dinner one night there too, which was really delicious. Before leaving for the beach, Connie and I have visited the grocery store to pick up snacks, which included apples, granola bars, cheese sticks, crackers, peanut M&Ms, Oreos, bananas and peaches. For lunch, we would just snack heavily on our snacks and then eat lunch a little earlier than normal.

The day before we headed back to the farm, Sofia and I was boogie boarding and I was trying to teach her how to dive under the waves without having to stand and be pushed around by the waves. She did a good job, but at one point the boogie board must have come up and hit her in the mouth. She came up with blood coming out of her mouth and holding her tooth that had been knocked out! The tooth hadn't been very loose, so it was quite a shock to her and she was upset for a minute. Once her mouth stopped bleeding, she was fine. She was just thankful that she hadn't swallowed her tooth like the last one. She also wondered if the tooth fairy would be able to find her in Daytona Beach.

On Thursday morning, Sofia awoke to find that the tooth fairy had found her! Ursula brought her a light house bookmark, a dolphin key chain and a shell etched with a pelican. She was so excited! After breakfast on Thursday morning we packed up and headed back to the farm after a very fun and relaxing time at the beach! I love how much the girls enjoyed the beach/pool and the time they were able to spend one-on-one with their Grandma and Grandpa. It's such a treat to be able to spend time with them and the girls adore them!

Love this picture! Great photo of the girls with Grandma and Grandpa!