Hitting the Beach!

We just got home from a long weekend at the beach. It was just what I had hoped... nice and relaxing with no itinerary and beautiful weather. We drove down on Friday morning, stopping in Savannah for lunch. The boys had never seen Savannah. We parked and got out to walk to River Street. It was a hot, muggy, Southern summer day... and there I was just entering my 8th month of pregnancy. Walking seemed like a good idea at the time. However, about a third of the way to River Street I was grinding to a halt. My body physically wouldn't go. We did not realize that we had parked a mile away.

Having never been very pregnant and walking at all, I was amazed by my inability to function in the heat. I'd heard of people talk about how bad it was to be pregnant in the summer. This was the only time I had experienced that. It was miserable. By the time we made it to the elevator to go down to the Riverfront, I was lightheaded and nauseous. The elevator was tiny and un-air conditioned... and I truly thought I was going to pass out! Luckily, once I sat, ate lunch, and drank a ton of water I felt like a new person. Needless to say I did not walk back to the car. Addison and I hung out around one of the fountains and chased pigeons until Jeff and Asa picked us up.

We made it down to Amelia Island and check into our hotel in enough time to hit the beach. The boys made sand castles and threw themselves into the waves like crazy people. They were too small to be able to boogie board on their own, but Jeff figured out that he could ride with one on his back... so that they did. Over the weekend they spent hours and hours riding the waves and letting the waves knock them flat on their backs over and over and over. Addison was particularly entertaining. He would stand in the roughest part and get knocked down over and over again, head over heels. A couple actually stood by and watched, ready to jump in to save him. Surely he was in distress, right? Just to look like a good parent, I got up and asked him if he needed any help, which he emphatically turned down. They were amazed. "Your boys are crazy" they said! At dinner that night, Addison started to fall asleep while chewing. Luckily, we caught him before he fell out of his chair and he slept the rest of dinner on Jeff's lap.

We wanted to go out late one night and look for crabs. Jeff and I explained that crabs like to come out late. With the nighttime exhaustion, it didn't work out. The next morning, Jeff planned to wake the boys up early and get to the beach to see the sunrise. They woke up a little late, and as they ate breakfast, Jeff mentioned that he wanted to go out early, but it was later than he planned. As they headed out to the beach, Addison looked concerned. He was being overly cautious. When Jeff asked what was wrong, Addison explained that crabs came out late, and they they were getting to the beach late. He was scared the crabs were going to get him. With that, Jeff explained that the crabs came out late at night, in the dark. They weren't out then. Addison looked up at him and asked... "Where are their homes?" If they weren't out, then where were they? Inquiring (and nervous) minds want to know.

To scoot around the island, we rented a little electric car. It was expensive, but SO worth it! We were able to cruise around the historic district, take it to dinner, and go to Fort Clinch in our "funny car". The boys were happy riding, I wasn't passing out by trying to walk, and we weren't driving around in the van, missing the details. It worked so well... but we did look ridiculous.

Fort Clinch Park was beautiful. We drove back to the fort and walked through the old buildings and tunnels. The fort was in great shape and we really enjoyed it. Again, it was insanely hot out there, so I ended up sitting in the shade frantically fanning myself with the tiny fort map and praying for relief while the boys drug Jeff through every inch of that place. Actually, they wanted to drag him through every inch, but Jeff tried to get it through to them that they did not actually need to go through each and every tunnel or climb each and every stair there. If it were up to Addison and Asa, I think they would have been there two extra hours.

Jeff and the boys did make it out Monday morning for a sunrise on the beach. They saw dolphins off the shore for the second morning in a row. The dolphins seem to go one direction early in the morning and then come back by a few hours later. They were beautiful!

This was our last trip as a family of four, and what a great trip it was. I wanted to be able to give the boys one last hurrah before their worlds turn upside down. Although walking in the heat was a bit tough, I thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant and out at the beach. It felt so normal. I think getting to experience a relatively uneventful pregnancy is a bit of therapy for me. To top it all off, the boys were great, they were angels when we went to dinner (even though they were exhausted beyond belief), and they were little troopers in the car. It made us feel so great to have other customers at both restaurants comment to us on how well behaved they were being. They are such good boys. I can only hope that this next baby is half as good as they have been. Guess we'll know soon enough!