More Beach Pictures

We had such a great time this weekend at the beach! Maya had been so excited about going, but honestly, I don't think she really knew what "going to the beach" meant. We took her when she was just over a year old, but that was over 2 years ago, so she can't really remember that trip. We didn't get to go at all last year, so this was Maria's first beach trip ever. The hotel we usually stay at had a great pre-summer special rate, so we decided to go just for 2 nights since I already had Friday off anyway in anticipation of Maya's Gotcha Day. But, after spending $$ to get a dual-screen portable dvd player for our car (and let me tell you, that has GOT to be the best invention of the 21st century!), and $$ for a new cooler, and a new bathing suit for Maya (I didn't get a picture of the whole thing, but it came with a matching zippered vest that clips on to the bottom part of her bathing suit ... another excellent invention, I might add), all the dolloar store beach toys, sunscreen for 4, etc, etc, etc, it wasn't quite the inexpensive getaway that I had planned. But it was worth every penny.

So Maya was excited, and that excitement never waned during the trip. She loved to go out on the beach, but loved to swim in the hotel pool even more. The weather was great, but it was very windy the whole time, so it was still a little chilly to be out on the beach or by the pool when one was wet and/or not in full sunlight. So in the mornings and evenings, E would just take Maya to swim in the indoor pool. I think my girl might be part fish. She will jump in the water over and over and over again. Absolutely no fear at all. And now, with the vest on, she can jump in by herself, which stills scares this mommy some, as she can't swim without the vest. I really need to get her enrolled in swimming lessons this year, but back to the pictures....

Maria, however, wasn't quite as impressed. Maria is far more reserved, and still clingy when in an unusual place. And she's not the most water-friendly child out there. If you'll recall, when we were in Guate with her, she did NOT like bathtime and never did warm up to them while there. Once home with Maya, and seeing how much Maya loves the bath and water in general, she did much better and even liked to play in the little kiddie pool we used last summer when only one of us was home and didn't want to try to get both of them in the big pool. I'm trying to set the scene for the next picture, and I think it's already too late to make a long story short, but in essence, she did NOT want to get in the ocean. And prior to that, it was even a struggle just to get her dressed in her bathing suit. I got it on her, but it was a huge struggle to get the little cover-up on her. I managed to do it, but she was NOT happy about it, and I think this is still her pouting face. Sort of saying, "I don't care how interesting this huge sandbox is, I am NOT going to enjoy it!" And you will notice she is wearing her cover-up in all of her beach pictures, because once I got it on her and then tried to remove it when we got down to the beach, she absolutely refused to take it back off. So I decided that this was one of the battles I would choose not to pick:

And here we finally have the beginning of a smile. She was enjoying herself, but just wasn't going to let me see it yet! Eric did try to get her to dip her toes in the water, but she did NOT want to go near that big pool of water in the background. So we had a few tears when he tried, but he didn't force the issue and just brought her back to her sand, and she settled down and was fine for the rest of the time we were out there.

And finally I got a real smile! Until, of course, we got back to our room and I had to take it all back off AND get her in the tub to wash all the sand off. Oy.

In comparison, these smiles were easy to find all weekend:

I can't wait to go back! The girls did great in the car, thanks to that wonderful new DVD player. They love Nemo and can almost recite the whole thing. Maya can say the shark pledge ("I am not a mindless eating machine ...."), and Maria and I love to repeat the part where Crush and Squirt do the "fin, noggin, duuuuude" part. She'll give me five, we'll bump heads, and she'll say "duuuuude" .. so cute! Anyway, they slept a good part of the way down there, and were asleep within 5 minutes of leaving there today around 2:30. It's a 4 hour trip, and I was a little nervous about it, but it all worked out great. Nemo and Cinderella saw us home without any problem!

p.s. Oh, and around 12:30 on Sunday, just a couple of hours before we have to leave to come home, guess who finally wanted to get in the pool? yep... Maria! She kept pointing to it and saying "water", so I finally asked her if she wanted to get in the water and she nodded 'yes'. Wow. Once in, she did not want to get out, so I hated to have to tell her it was time to go and we had to go get dressed. She kept getting out of the pool to go to E and tell him "I water", meaning, of course, "look at me, Father, for I am in the water in the pool and am enjoying myself immensely!", and then she would come back to me and get back in. What a cutie-pie.