Fun In The Sun

Annabelle: Mmmmmm...my brother has some of that yummy sand on his knee. I wonder if he'd let me have some.....

Jacob: I LOVE the beach!!!!

Sun, sand, surf...and the cutest little strawberry you've ever seen.



Ha ha ha! The water's getting my feet!

I dubbed last week the Duncan Family Beach Adventure. We went up to Carolina Beach, NC for a week with a lot of Heath's family -- 18 of us total. We rented a beach house so we were all under one roof for the entire week. I have to admit, I was a little concerned about space, but it turned out great! A fantastic time was had by all! I did feel a little guilty because our family had the master bedroom, so we had plenty of space. In our defense, we did have to set up a pack 'n play for Annabelle to sleep in and a toddler bed for Jacob. That's why we were given the big bedroom. Hugs and a big thank you to whoever made that decision!! Perhaps, one of the most enjoyable things about the week was the fact that we had so many people to help care for Jacob and Annabelle. Heath and I actually got a little break for the week. Hooray for that! Annabelle got completely spoiled from being held so much. The ride home was rough because she wasn't happy in her carseat. She wanted to be held and voiced her requests through loud, angry cries. Ugh. She seems to be getting over it now, though.

Can you believe it? We spent all week at the beach and came back without even a little sunburn! I think this is a first for me. I ALWAYS get sunburned, no matter how much sunscreen I use. Before we went out on the beach, I was very careful to make sure every square inch of Jacob's and Annabelle's bodies were covered with sunscreen. The ritual took FOREVER, but was definitely worth the time and effort. I am so happy they didn't get burned. I did learn that we need to use only the sensitive sunscreen on Jacob. I usually covered him with the Neutrogena Baby Sunblock first, then later, if he needed another coat, I just sprayed him with the Coppertone Kids' spray. Apparently, some of the spray dripped down into his eye while he was playing in the water. He started screaming and a rash broke out on that side of his face -- not good. No more sunscreen spray for Jacob. He's strictly lotion only from now on.


I remember taking Jacob to the beach when he was a baby. I remember taking him out into the water wanting him to at least get his feet wet; but, anytime we held him out over the water, he would raise his feet and legs to a sitting position. For some reason, he didn't want his feet in the water. I saw a baby boy doing the same thing at the beach this week. Funny.

Annabelle does the exact opposite. She loves to kick and splash in the water. She did raise her feet like Jacob, but that was only to kick, not to keep them out of the water.

They may have reacted differently to the ocean, but in another way, they are definitely the same. When Jacob was Annabelle's age, he made a three course meal out of sand. Annabelle took it to the extreme with a delightfully gritty four course meal. She ate SO much sand. I tried to stop her from eating it, but she is one determined nine month old girl. Noone was coming between her and her sand.

Here's the little sand eater in action:

Ok...I have a lot more pictures and videos to post...but I'll have to keep you in suspense. I have lots of party preparations to tend to at the moment! I'll get them up as soon as I can!