Beach babies.

Brad had a great opportunity to go to Europe this summer.

Wait. Let me rephrase:

Brad had TWO great opportunities to go to Europe this summer.

I briefly mentioned our travels in Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic (maybe you read about those?), but 10 days after we returned from that trip, Brad turned around and headed back to Europe. I'm going to try to write/get him to write a little bit about his month in Greece, but the short story is that he was accepted to a summer program to study Byzantine Greek at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens for the month of July. Bless him, what a rough summer he had!


Meanwhile, the girls and I hit the road again. We drove down to Atlanta and dropped Brad off at the airport before driving over to my parents' house.

Thankfully, after we said bye to Brad, we headed to Alabama for a visit with my parents AND a trip to Orange Beach! Thanks, Nana and Poppy! We needed the fun and distraction.

Amiee joined us, as well as my aunt and uncle, so we had a full house and a grand time. Our trip down was loooooong. As in, 10 hours long (rather than about 6). To say that Lily was OVER IT before we arrived would be an understatement. Thankfully, the van has a dvd player, so Amiee just kept popping in dvd's (which was awesome for Claire...Lily could not be dissuaded from her mission of letting us know her displeasure) as we creeped along the interstate. See also: 10 hours on the way home = same response from Lily. Buckets of fun.

In keeping with tradition, we made a stop at The Peach Park in Clanton, AL for Caramel Peach ice cream. Because it's a necessity.

My tractor-loving girls were SO EXCITED to climb on this antique tractor.

My children are excellent sleepers, generally. They sleep long. They sleep uninterrupted. They sleep at nap times and at nighttime. They sleep really well. Except at the beach, apparently. At the beach, they wake up at 5. IN THE MORNING. Well, Lily did, which woke Claire up, and as they were sharing a room with Amiee and me, we did, as well. So, we spent our mornings watching full-length feature films before everyone else even awoke. Despicable Me, Ratatouille, Tangled...bless us. 

Also, our balcony with the beautiful view of the beach was a little bit terrifying with Lily on the loose. Stressful, y'all. She tried to squeeze herself between the railing bars. She was slightly too big, but OH MY WORD.

Our weather was gorgeous the whole week. It was absolutely perfect, and we discovered that both of the girls are obsessed with the beach. Claire has really enjoyed it for a while, but she really threw herself into it this year. Speaking of "throwing one's self into something," Lily literally threw herself into the ocean. The waves didn't scare her, the salt didn't bother her, the sounds didn't phase her...no fear. Being at the beach with Lily means that you CANNOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF HER FOR ONE SECOND. Not one. 

Also, not only does she eat sand, she also eats shells. Again: not for one second can you look away.

Don't mind Lily; she's just eating a cupful of sand. I gave up on caring if she ate sand. I did fish shells out of her mouth, though.

This is a progression of pictures attempting to get Claire to smile normally. 

"Don't give yourself a fake underbite."

I think I bribed her with an M&M.

Despite all of the "help" he received, Dad managed to make this fish.

"Ta da!"

"Need that knocked down? I'm on it."

She saw the birds and need to make friends. 

"Heeeeey! Hey!"

Our 4th of July best!

Lily's reaction to the throwed rolls at Lambert's. It was a dream come true for this little eater.

Bo and Bear.

Annnd we can't forget...Lily climbing things:

We had a fantastic time (although some of us would have enjoyed a taddy bit more sleep)! So thankful for time with family, especially when it is spent at the beach. Thank you, Nana and Poppy!