we spent another morning on the beach! rex is loving the ocean and was sitting right in it letting the waves wash up over him! malloy even went in a little but, although it took a long time to convince her to get down there!! she was far from excited to be in the water but she wasn't crying hysterically either - it's a step!! time flew this morning - we were having so much fun playing in the sand with ali, chen, and natalie that we didn't realize it was time for lunch and naps!!!

 

yesterday was a cold and cloudy day at the beach. instead of swimming, we went for a walk and collected sea shells. the kids were exhausted and both ended up falling asleep in the stroller. i went to the grocery store and got back to 2 kids NOT napping!!! their little snooze in the morning threw everything off!! rex did eventually nap and malloy and i baked cookies with auntie ali and natalie. malloy was dying to hold natalie and finally got to!! i don't think natalie was as thrilled as malloy was...

we spent our afternoon on the bethany beach boardwalk. the kids had some ice cream and we picked up a couple buckets of thrashers fries to go with our dinner - YUM!!! malloy was great on the boardwalk. she held onto a strap attached to the stroller and walked right next to me. she can be a real sweetie pie! at bedtime, malloy and i had a nice talk about the ocean and how it's silly and it comes up to tickle your feet and then runs away. i told her the ocean was playing a game. she looked excited to get her toes tickled tomorrow, but we shall see!!!! rex had some great daddy time today - they played at the beach together, walked the boardwalk together, and neal did bedtime. he is loving all of this male bonding and i know neal is, too. so glad we could get away for a week and neal is getting so much time with the kids, both one-on-one and all of them together :)

it was another beautiful morning (aside for rex's 5:30 wake up call)!!! rex is really starting to like the water!! he had a fun morning in the ocean with neal. malloy, on the other hand, had a meltdown at the beach and i had to take her back the to house. she was so excited to go to the beach and she had fun for a bit, but wasn't happy that her daddy was playing with rex in the water. she does not like going near the water at all and was upset that she couldn't get to neal. HUGE crying meltdown. i carried her back to the house with her screaming the whole way!  then she screamed in the outdoor shower and finally settled down. we cuddled, drank some juice, took a shower, ate lunch, and took a nap!!!! hopefully it's a long one - it's looking that way!! we're headed out to bethany's boardwalk once everyone wakes up!

we love the beach!!!

yesterday, we drove down to bethany beach, delware to stay the week with auntie ali, uncle chen, and natalie!!! the kids were pretty good on the way down. i played with them, sitting in between both car seats, for most of the way down. the highlight of the trip was the "mommy and me" bathroom at a rest stop on the pennsylvania turnpike. i've never seen on of these before!! in addition to the family bathroom option, there was a mommy and me bathroom in the women's room. inside was a big toilet and a tiny toilet side by side!!!! so cute!! malloy and i were both THRILLED about this!!!!
when we got to the beach house (which is AMAZING!!!) malloy was running around saying "i'm so excited we're at the beach!" and wringing her hands. then when more people arrived, she was running back and forth yelling "i can't believe my friends are here!!" she was very excited! she went to the beach for a bit with neal and rex stayed with me so i could get him ready for bed. first night was great! they both slept all night!!
today, we spent mostly at the beach! the kids love the sand! the water, not so much, but rex was warming up to it. malloy really does not like it at all!!! she would cry if the water got to close to her :( hopefully we get over this fear of water!!!! 

daddy came to grandma's house today!!! we're a family of 4 again!! malloy had a big grin on her face as she ran to him when she woke up from naps. rex was ecstatic to to see his daddy as well!!! neal took malloy to the park to play and then i played outside with her for a little bit. i showed her how to roll down the hill and she didn't quite get it. later on, neal showed her again how to do it. she would lose control and get a little freaked out. after she faceplanted in the grass, she got up and said "i'm all done. that was too rough."   we had yet another birthday party for rex with the boskets! we had a great time!!! it was great seeing everyone, rex got lots of new goodies and malloy even got a gift, too! tonight is the last night sleeping at grandma val and grandpa don's - it's off to the beach tomorrow!!!

we had another busy day!! kassie spent the whole day with us and was a HUGE help with the kids!! i think i should have had a kid at 15 so that i could have a 14 yr old to help out with the babies...KIDDING!!! but it's SO helpful to have an extra set of hands! after nap, we met grandma tappy and grandpa gary at the park. malloy and rex went on their first merry-go-round ride!! malloy rode a horse the first time and rex sat on a bench with kassie. malloy sat very still and held on so tight to the bar with no expression on her face. she was pretty nervous! we got off and as we're walking away, she told grandma "i don't like that" and pointed to the merry-go-round. but after playing a little bit she wanted to try again and sit on the bench. she liked it better on the bench and rode a few times before it was time to go back to grandma val's for dinner with aunt amy, kassie, and aunt nini. the kids LOVED nini - they thought she was a riot!!! they had a fun visit with everyone and went to bed early!!!