The Carlsons: Vacationing with "Earl"

For an end of the summer beach vacation, we joined our friends the Reemsnyder's down in Kitty Hawk for almost a near perfect weather week at the beach. Up until our evacuation on Thursday morning, the days were absolutely perfect. And much to our delight, both Ella and Caroline couldn't get enough of the sand which meant they both stayed very busy on the beach! Of course dealing with Ella and the sand was much easier than dealing with Caroline and the sand since the latter didn't seem to mind swallowing fistfulls of it. Yuck! After several days though, she finally figured out that maybe sand wasn't as tasty as she had previously thought. However, her sense of adventure never lessened; she crawled around in the sand, played with sand toys, and enjoyed climbing on the beach chairs to play with toys. Ella and "her friend" Brady had a blast and were great little beach buddies for the week. We laughed about the fact that she always referenced Brady as "her friend" ("Where's my friend?")which we think is due to the fact that before the beach, we'd talk to Ella about the beach and describe how she was going to have fun playing with "her friend" Brady. Ha! Another added bonus: both the girls napped on the beach! It was unreal the first day; we sat on the beach watching them both nap and thought the day would never happen (for a long long time, that is!) that we'd have two hours of peace and quiet on the beach! So, adults naps were taken on the beach and lots of reading - yeah!

So....despite Earl, we had a blast!

Can't beat it: both girls asleep on the beach! This was HEAVEN!

Ella on the beach

Caroline found a hole and loved climbing out and sliding back in again!

With Shea and the "big kids;" taking a walk to get ice cream

On a walk to get ice cream

Cute shot of Brady and Ella

Loving the sand

Whatever happened to just toting along a towel and book to the beach? These days, we can't forget the beach toys, sunscreen, umbrella, cabana, towels, cooler, snacks, diapers, chairs, and of course a means to carry two kids! Apparently the packing took long and bored Ella to sleep!