Dillon Beach

Well, we're home! Did you miss us? We have been away, on our annual trip to Dillon Beach. Jim and his family have been going to Dillon Beach every year since any of them can remember, and I have been going since I came into this family nine years ago. This is where we came as one of our first real outings as a couple, and this is where Jim proposed to me; this is where most of our family found out we were pregnant with Paul, and it is where Paul just spent his second Independence Day. We have a lot of memories here, and I am glad to share this set with you!
On our trip last year, Paul was just crawling and spent most of his time in his Pak-n-Play, but this time he was running everywhere, eating plenty of sand, collecting rocks, running in the ocean, and fine tuning his flirtation skills by practicing on all the ladies in our camp and every stranger we came upon.

The drive to the beach is about 3 hours, and Paul was not real cool with that; he managed to keep himself entertained for a total of five minutes, despite the picture that makes it look like he read diligently for 3 hours. As soon as we arrived, he ran around the campsite and then flung himself in the sand/dirt and proceeded to taste it and toss it about like the dogs all around him. He was especially happy when his Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike arrived, and spent a good deal of time trying to climb into their camper or climb onto their dogs.

Thursday night was a little rough on the camp, as Paul woke up thirsty at 2:45am and we did not have his favorite sippy cup with us. He had to use an alternate cup, but he refused and cried really loudly for exactly 9 minutes before finally giving in and using the cup we had.

On Friday (after a 30 mile round trip to the nearest town for a proper sippy cup, lest we replay the night before), Paul got to run around in the ocean (actually just the bay inside the peninsula), and he LOVED it! The kid has no fear at all, especially of water (I do not know if this is good or not), and he ran straight into the freezing water to collect rocks. He had a great time splashing around, and finally had to be pulled kicking and screaming from the water when Mommy's feet were too cold to stand anymore.

Friday night Paul fell asleep early, but was wakened several times by the ten billion illegal fireworks people were setting off everywhere. Fireworks are not allowed at the beach, but obviously everyone missed the ten giant signs on the drive to camp, and decided to bless us with the noisy lights until about 1am. Paul cried this time because the noise kept him awake; I unzipped the window to show him the fireworks, but that made it worse, so I closed it up and cuddled him close. He fell asleep again when they finally ended, and did not sleep in on Saturday.
This morning I woke to Paul petting my face and giving me kisses, which is always the best way to wake up, but as soon as I opened my eyes he began yelling "Mommy" in his happiest, really-loud voice, and proceeded to wake up the entire camp... at 6am.

It was a lovely day, and I was sad to pack up our camp and leave everyone to enjoy the day. We usually leave on Sunday, but I have to work tomorrow, so here we are back at home.
It was a nice weekend, and we had a great time, as usual. I have to say, however, that year after year, my favorite part of camping is the SHOWER I get to take when we get home!