Two Peas in a Pod: Beach Boys

We recently took our first vacation as a family to Carolina Beach. What an adventure! The boys are great car riders, for the most part; they sleep, look out the window and jabber back and forth to each other...we are so fortunate for that! When we arrived at the beach we took the boys down in their little red wagon and they loved it! We pulled them in the sand along the shore and they watched the waves crash and felt the wind in their hair (well, for Jaxson...against his bald scalp). Josh and I thought they would love playing in the sand and ocean the next day...

So, our second day we got up early and headed to the aquarium. Jaxson was not amused, he squalled almost the whole time unless we were feeding him (ironically) goldfish. Of course, we took no pictures because being the scatter-brained mom that I am, I forgot to charge the camera. We managed to capture one picture on our cell phone at the entrance. We zoomed through the aquarium in less than an hour, thankfully they don't charge admission for ages 2 and under.

After the aquarium we thought the beach would be a great activity. Not so much. We oiled the boys up in sunscreen, floppy hats, and swim shirts along with our ridiculous amount of beach gear (tent, towels, blanket, shovels, buckets, cooler, sandals, sunscreen, snacks, umbrella, and a wagon). Once we setup our temporary beach shelter, we walked the boys down to the ocean. Foster screamed and picked his legs up in horror and Jaxson squealed (some more) and kicked his legs in fright. We shuffled the boys back up to our beach campground and let them dig and play in the sand, at least they enjoyed playing and eating the sand. Yes, eating...there are some battles that aren't worth fighting and digging sand out of my children's mouths isn't one of them. They are fine. So, to make our day a little more dramatic I misread the tide chart in our condo...only to find out that the tide was coming in rather than going out. I was watching the boys dig and eat the sand with my back to the ocean when I was splashed by an incoming wave. I thought, "hmm, must be a rogue wave" and moved into the sun to dry off. Well, there was then another "rogue" wave several minutes later, then another, and another. We decided to shift our beach homestead back several feet before the boys got splashed by the approaching ocean. As Josh was resetting the tent, I sat with the boys on our beach blanket (and the rest of our gear) when another wave rose from the great sea and saturated everything...boys included. Beach goers ran over to help up gather our mountain of beach supplies and make sure the boys and I were ok. The boys were soaked and screaming and Josh and I were so startled we packed up everything and headed back to the condo...never to return. We found refuge in the calm, serene pool for the rest of the afternoon.

In addition to the aquarium and our beach horror we rented bikes on Bald Head Island. Now that was something the boys loved! Josh, not so much. He got stuck towing the boys behind his little rental bike in a 75lb. bike trailer while I rode behind snapping pictures. An expensive afternoon but well worth it!

Overall, we had a great time. Vacationing with two toddlers is a much different experience than without but we wouldn't change it for the world!

Check out our family vacation pics below...