Port A with Baby Soups

So our trip to Port A this year was much better than the last.  The kids are a year older, and we are a lot wiser when it comes to traveling with them.  The saving grace...the dvd screens for the car.  I was the mother who said, " I will never have those.  All the kids will want to do is stare at movies all the time."  And me now...point exactly.  Who wants the kids screaming, crying, and fighting in the car for four hours?  The drive went a little like this:  kids buckled in, wizard of oz on, lunch in car seats on the way, movie off with promises of another if they take a real nap, kids nap for an hour and a half (cue hallelujah music), Rapunzel on, stop for groceries, cross the ferry, to the condo with extra time left on the movie.  But that was only the drive!

Sleeping was much better this year.  Although we all still ended up in the same bed somehow, there were not too many kung fu panda moves at night.  All in all that part was okay.  I'm not saying that I didn't kiss my bed and make promises of never leaving it again when I got home, but it was not the worst of sleeping arrangements.

The beach was nice. Not too much seaweed until the night before we left. The kids had fun. We spent our time going back and forth from beach to pool. Neither of the kids truly loved the beach, and after Ava inhaled and then puked up some water...she was pretty much done with it and didn't even want to look at it. So, the pool was our place of choice. The floaties were a new thing for both of them. Ava immediately loved them and Adam needed some extra convincing that these were really awesome things...well, maybe he was never really convinced, but he tried to fake it.

* Adam has a new word for bathing suit, and I love it...he calls it his 'baby soups'. It is just the cutest thing.  I have to repeat it to him because I never want him to say it correctly.  Although, we may have to explain this to him when he gets older and really needs to know the correct word for it.*

First day-about to go in the water. Adam in his baby soups.



Ava is excited...or doing yoga



What is this stuff that is falling from the sky?  We woke up to rain the next morning.

Adam is keeping an eye on the storm

playing at the beach

more of the "brown water", as Ava calls it

We met some little friends that were hanging out by the boardwalk of our condo

Adam relaxin' after swimming in the pool (aka "the blue water")

Ava happy to be at the pool

Daddy and Adam in the waves

Ava refusing to go in the water or get sand on herself.  She choked on a bunch of water the night before and that was the end of the beach for her.

Flying baby...no fear

The best...not even a peep when nap time was announced

Exhausted after a long day...fell asleep eating apples. He has them in his hand :)

Ice cream.  Of course he wants both

yum...chocolate chip mint



who is this child?  I just want to squeeze her little butt.



Adam in his own special outfit.  We were taking a walk on the beach to look for shells and this is what he chose.  The floaties are surely necessary!



Who loves the water? And their brand new floaties? 



Sweet moments...Ava reading bedtime stories to her baby brother.  Can't ask for anything better than this!

swimmers...in the making

We finally put the kids in really great swimming lessons.  We go to Emler and will never go anywhere else again.  They are so wonderful.  They have Ava, the child who never wanted to get her face wet, putting her head under water and holding her breath for 4-5 seconds already. Her goal is to swim 5 feet with a 10 second breath hold.  Now, I'm not so sure she is up for that yet. She is just a little apprehensive about the whole swimming thing.  We keep having to coax her into going and telling her what a great job she is doing, but she will get there some day.  And Adam, well he is right behind her with the 3-4 second breath hold and he is totally okay with it...until he realizes they want him to do it over and over again, and then he gets a little upset.  For the most part they are doing great and having fun learning how to swim.  If there are any other children in our future, they will definitely be taking true swim lessons much earlier than my babies are now.  Here are a few pics from lessons early on.  Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of my true swimmers soon!


Ava with Mr. Miles





Ava learning to float on her back.




Adam floating with Daddy.



Learning how to hold his breath.