Monday, November 7, 2016

A day at the beach

Ryan has had a tough rotation schedule so far.  He started with 8 weeks of surgery, which meant he left at 4:30 in the morning and came home well after dinner and most times after kids were in bed.  Then he moved on to Neuro ICU where he was also on a really demanding schedule.  Now, he is finishing up pediatrics, and these two weeks have been a dream.  He randomly was given two days off (hip hip hooray!!) and we wanted to make every minute count.

One of the days, we decided to pick Cal up from tot-school and head straight to the coast.  We have never been there, but have heard all sorts of good things.  After a quick 2.5 hour drive, we drove up right to the beach, as in our tires touched the sand.  There were mini pavilions all along the shore that provided some shade, so we first transferred sleeping Grady Boy into a pack n play and let him nap while the three of us played in the sand and jumped in the water.

Cal was in heaven.  I am not being dramatic when I say I have never seen him that happy.  He was skipping and twirling and jumping and throwing himself into the water over and over, and was beaming every minute.  The undertow was a little strong for my liking, so we made sure to be by his side the entire time.  And once Grady woke up, he enjoyed the many handfuls of sand he was able to munch on, but loved sitting in the waves as they splashed over his little legs.

After tons of fun at the beach, we were all equally tired and starving.  We found a little hole in the wall pizza joint, and were pleasantly surprised.  Huge slices, lots of toppings, yummy salad and cheese bread...it was the perfect ending to a happy day.  We packed up the sun-soaked babies into their seats, and they snoozed as we made our way back to San Antonio.

Ryan and I could not say enough how much we needed that time together.  All together - the four of us.  Our family needed some time away from the norm, and to make a fun new memory.  I hope we make it back there soon!  And for future reference, this time of year is the best to go.  We heard that summertime is just scorching hot and crowded.  Maybe we can make this our "first week of November" tradition.