Family Beach Trip

****Beware, picture overload!!****

(For those on Instagram and Facebook, about 1/2 of these are repeats. Sorry!)

 

We traveled to Litchfield, SC (a 10 hour drive!) last week for the annual Gibbs Family Beach Trip. We are lucky enough to be able to use my dad's cousin's beach house each year, and I have fond memories of going there when I was a kid.

 

We met my parents there last Sunday, and after a quick lunch, we all headed down to the beach. The kids were just a wee bit excited, if you can't tell :)

 

 I only stayed on the beach for about an hour - I left to go grocery shopping and unpack - but from what I hear, the kids had a ball. Both spent a lot of time in the ocean and digging and building and singing. (Well, you can guess who was doing the latter. Our little Miss Priss.)

 

Everyone in my family looks forward to this trip every year, but the funny thing is, the one who does so the most is not even a Gibbs!!! Yes, you guessed it. This guy:

 Every year, he starts talking about the beach MONTHS in advance! Mostly about all the fresh fruits and veggies, and especially the watermelon. He insists on being the one to cut it every year.

 

Poppy surprised Nate with a binder & divider pages for his Pokémon collection! And a few new cards to boot. Nate could not wait to start organizing them (!) and little sis was happy to watch.

One of Abby's favorite past times at the beach house is dressing up. Which is hilarious to me because I remember dressing up in some of those clothes as a kid too! And for about 5 seconds, she convinced Nate to put on a wig. Hilarious!

 Even though we didn't celebrate it, our first day at the beach was Father's Day. (We opted to celebrate later in the week once Bec & her family arrived.) However, this little girl couldn't wait to give her favorite Daddy a smackaroo in the hammock. The best present ever, I'm sure!

 Day 2 (Monday) started off great - I had an awesome early morning run, even though the humidity was THICK. I get home, ready for a healthy breakfast, and saw these:

 Thanks, Poppy. (Now, of course, he didn't force one down my throat. I chose to do that.  But man oh man, it is hard for me to resist a donut! Especially fresh ones from a local bakery. Ugh.)

Told you she loves dress-up. And no, that is not a feather duster, it's a magic wand :)

Beach selfie :) I forgot my UNC hat and had to borrow Nate's!

Love the tucked sunglasses

 Nate has not always been a fan of the beach. In fact, it's taken 6 years for him to really love it. Last year, he was almost there. Well, this year, he was into it 100%!!! ALL he wanted to do was go jump the waves (with Daddy or Poppy mostly), or boogie board all day long. Click here to watch a short clip of him riding in a "wave."

Poppy & Abby selfie

 Day 3 (Tuesday), we headed to the beach bright & early again. We really lucked out with the weather all week. It was nice & breezy down on the beach, and nothing but sunshine.

Champion sandcastle builders

Nothing cuter than a sandy butt! Love those cheeks :)

Is she sassy or what!?

She seriously had the best week of her life

New game: horseshoes!

My three favorite fish!

 We went back to the house around lunchtime and finally this guy arrived!!!

(Along with my little sis, Bec, and her hubbie Mike. My older sis couldn't make it this year due to a hectic work schedule. Boo!)



Showing Anderson how to jump into our homemade tidal pools :)

She was so happy to see her cousin!

 

Anderson is SUPER obsessed with Uncle Greg!!

Future UA cheerleader

She loved being a little mommy to Anderson :)

After dinner, we went on a golf cart ride in search of the ice cream truck! Never found him, but at least we had fun trying :)

 Day 4 (Wednesday) was my parents' 43rd anniversary. Yes, you read that right! I know it's extra rare these days to see a couple married so long. Which is why I'm even more proud & honored that they are my parents!

And Nate, Abby, and Anderson are super lucky to have these two as grandparents!

 That morning, we finally had our belated Father's Day celebration. Lots of yummy food for breakfast, cards, and gifts. We love you & appreciate you, Greg, Poppy, and Uncle Mike!

Mike gets the son-in-law of the year award b/c he got Poppy OSU football tickets!

 Greg is a great sport and lets the kids bury him -one time- every year. This was the first time Anderson was old enough to join in and he did a great job! (We all kept chanting: no sand on the face, no sand on the face! And thankfully, he listened :)

Sand Monster

Wanted to have a turn :)

Anderson teaching his BFF how to swim

She is the definition of JOY!

I'm so proud of Nate....he was super patient with Anderson and really enjoyed playing with him. I love his gentle spirit!

Every year, we go to the same ice cream shop. Nate, Abby, and Anderson all had their first bites of ice cream there when they were 1 year old!

Abby brought her wallet to buy some "treasures." She picked out these two shells and Nate bought a ninja weapon set :)

 Day 5 (Thursday) we spent yet another glorious morning on the beach. These kiddos loved to sit in the tidal pools we made, and I loved watching them giggle & play together.

Twinsies!

Silly Uncle Mike at lunch!

 Each year, we try to cook dinner most nights at the house. (To save $$ and to not have to rush around every night and shower, etc.) Well, we all got dressed up for our one night out on the town, so of course we had to take a million family pictures! :)

 

We promised Anderson he could watch Super Why on Nanny's phone if he cooperated, and he did :)

BFF's at dinner in Murrell's Inlet

 After dinner and a walk down the pier, my parents took all 3 grandkids back to the house to put them to bed. Which left me, Greg, Bec & Mike able to go hang out at an outdoor bar together. So fun!

 

 Day 6 (Friday) started off with bubbles in our pjs. Because, why not!?

 

  One of my college roommates, Becca, and her 2 year old son, Drew, came to visit us for most of Friday. She lives about an hour away, so she makes the effort to come see us each year. Even though we graduated from UNC 12 years ago (wow, I'm old!), we have maintained our friendship and I love every second I have to be able to catch up with her. (Sidenote: She has an amazing camera and took a lot of great photos of our visit, but sadly, her camera (and purse) got stolen out of her car later that night at her house. So we won't be seeing those pictures. But Beccca, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you coming to visit and how good it was to see you & your adorable Drew!!)

More cousin pics. We only have another year or two before Nate stops wanting to dress up as twins, ha!

My favorite nephew!

We took the golf cart down to the marsh in the front of the neighborhood and finally spotted an alligator!!

 And then..........we made one last effort to drive around and find the ice cream truck. And we finally did!!! We flagged him down and I think he thought we were c-r-a-z-y. Well, we kinda are :)

 Day 7 (Saturday) was a sad one b/c Bec, Mike, and Anderson had to leave :( We spent one last morning on the beach and I don't think I left my chair once. The kids were busy jumping waves and flying kites, and I just got to sit back and watch. Heaven!

We had awful, awful storms that afternoon, so we just stayed in the house to play games, pack, and do laundry.

 

Sunday morning, my parents took these cuties back to their house in NC and Greg & I returned for a few kid-free days in AL.

 

I had an amazing time at the beach but was reallllly looking forward to having a vacation from my vacation :) Thank you to Nanny & Poppy for helping us have yet another great beach trip! I know you are excited to have the kids at your house for a few days; I just hope they don't run you ragged. See you Friday!! :)