The Lee Family: A Day at the Beach

Yesterday morning, Connie offered to call Mary to see if we could drive out to their little house on the beach in St. Augustine, just an hour or so away. The girls were dying to go to the beach and were super excited. However, since it was already 10am, we figured we'd wait until the next day to get an early start so we could really spend the whole day on the sand. Sofia was really upset but got over it once she realize that she'd have more time swimming and playing at the beach.

Today we got up around 8am, ate a quick breakfast and got ready for the drive to St. Augustine and the beach! Connie loaded the car with towels, a beach blanket and a soft-sided cooler with cold waters, granola bars and pretzels. It was great! We drove to Mary and Alan's house, which is adorable! We changed into our swimsuits and walked to the beach! The beaches are so long and made of such hard sand, it almost felt like we were walking on the sidewalk as we picked our spot. Immediately the girls were gone and running in and out of the surf, which wasn't very strong. School had already started in Florida, so the beach was pretty empty and there were no kids. We felt like we almost had the entire place to ourselves with a few people on either side of us but very far away.

After just over an hour, CK headed back to the house since he doesn't really tan but burns instead, even with sunscreen. The girls continued to play and I tried to add sunscreen to them, especially their shoulders, back and faces as often as I could. They would run and dive through the waves and then spend a long time digging in the sand and building sand castles. We also spend a lot of time hunting for shells and Olivia loved picking them up, washing them off in the ocean and giving them to me to hold. We actually found a lot of really good ones and it was fun to hunt for them. The girls would occasionally appear for snacks and/or water and I told them once we were out of both and they got hungry, we'd go back to the house and grab lunch. I read with a towel over my shoulders and a hat on and took a dip in the water when I'd get too hot. It was actually not to bad out, although having an umbrella would have been really great.

Finally at 4pm, CK texted to let me know he was starving. I convinced the girls it was time to head back to the house and they came with little fuss. They didn't want to admit it, but I think they were starving. As we walked back to Alan and Mary's house, Sofia asked "So, now are are going to swim in the pool?" The community has a pool and the girls brought their mermaid tails to use, but I told them we were done. The plan was to rinse off, change back into clothes, go to an early dinner and head back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She was a little sad that we'd have to leave the beach, but they had a great day.

We headed over to Saltwater Cowboys for an early dinner, which Connie and CK had recommended. We were all very hungry, thirsty and sun-drenched and the food was delicious! After eating, we loaded back into the car and headed back to the farm. Olivia was asleep in no time while Sofia read. Unfortunately, I hadn't been as consistent with the sunscreen application as I should have been and both girls were pretty sunburned on their backs. Luckily Connie had some aloe spray which they both said made it feel a lot better. Feel terrible for the sunburn, but had such a fun and relaxing day at the beach and I love how much fun the girls have in the sand and ocean!

CK getting comfortable