Beach Week – Bess Style

As she is so often referred to by the Rutland side of the family, Butterbean, had a wonderful week at Pawleys! 

In hopes to follow in the footsteps of her older brother, Bess decided she was a fan of the boogie board also.  Her idea of how a boogie board should be used was slightly different than the original intent.  But she was a happy baby if she was being pulled!

Never one to walk away from a mess, Baby Bess was ALL ABOUT the “muddles” near our campsite!  She absolutely loved putting sandy mud in and out of the buckets.  How thankful was I for these puddles?! 

But when Baby Bess was ready to head back to the beach house, someone was always willing to go with her.  This person knew if they took Bess back to the house, they could probably slip in a good afternoon nap and blame it on her!

As expected, Baby Bess could often be found getting her way!  Take DooDad for example, if walking on the table top kept her happy, this is the activity Bess got to do!  Clearly, it is a hard life this baby leads!

Bess could be spotted at the beach with something to eat in both of her hands at all times!  Morning , Noon, or Night, this child walked around eating something from someone, often stealing food from others when they weren’t looking!  She likes her food no doubt!  And she soon learned how delicious ice cream cones were!  Thanks to Uncle Jeffery she was able to gain an extra cone to eat!   At least she tried to share her cones with him though!

It seems now that I reflect back on many of Bess’ wonderful memories from the beach, they all involve food!  Thankfully we celebrated birthdays at the beach so Baby Bess was lucky enough to get birthday cake too!  Life was perfect! She really tried hard to showcase her best table manners!

  But Baby Bess fell in love with the water at the beach this year!  She discovered floating in the puddles and thought this was by far the best thing ever.  She would just giggle and fall backwards into the water and lay there.  She was a little fish!

We had such a wonderful time at Pawleys this year!  Thanks RahRah & DooDad for a wonderful house and week of fun!  Can’t wait until 2011! 

Beach Week- Wylie Style

Long gone are the days of Wylie perching herself on top of a cooler because of the sand surrounding her! My little girl has turned into a Beach Babe!

Wylie was a huge fan of the puddles near our beach campsite this year! They provided for her much needed entertainment! Surprisingly, she loved to drop the “mud” on people’s legs and then clean your legs off for you! I was not surprised by the cleaning part but that she would play with the “mud”! It was a common activity for this little gal! We were very thankful for Kathrine. She was a trooper and let Wylie deck her in mud from head to toe!

While being a Beach Babe, Wylie hit a major milestone in her life! Without my knowing, RahRah gave Wylie her first pedicure and painted her toenails! I had a little tear in my eye as Wylie came to show me her beautiful new sparkle toes! At least it was clear!!! I must admit though, Wylie loved every bit of the primping process!!!

Everyday on the beach with Wylie, I got to see one of my favorite things! I can not resist how adorable her hiney looks with a wedgie bathing suit!

If ever there was a moment to show sibling love, Wylie found time to do this on the beach! Of course it was shown by using her brother’s favorite “shobbel” and covering him with sand! All the while these two were giggling beyond belief! They thought this activity was the best! Great killer of about 15 minutes!!!

While the Beach Babe enjoyed the water, waves and sand, it was VERY HOT this year at Pawleys. When Wylie realized the sand was hot, she was very upset and would often require someone to carry her. Granted it was hot, but with sand shoes, it was doable! Drama queen!! So many days, Wylie would say her beach farewells around lunch time and head back to the beach house. Thankfully Little Lulu was in the same boat! These 2 became thick as thieves! Wylie absolutely adored Lulu and wanted to copy everything she did!

Over the week, Wylie developed a deep loving for cleaning dishes. She could stand at the sink for hours washing cups and washing her hands! She knew just how to get the chair where she needed it and how to use the soap too! So if ever we needed an activity to separate all the energy this was Wylie's go-to spot!

During our putt-putt outing, Wylie was not the devoted golf player her father had hoped for! While she gave holes 1 and 2 a good shot, she realized the heat was way too much for her. She was very interested in scoping out the upcoming hole for us though!

At one point, Bubba left to go get us drinks. The hole we were on had a large castle you were suppose to hit your ball under and then knock in the hole on the other side. This concept was TOO MUCH for Wylie. She couldn’t see Bubs so she started crying and crawled under the castle looking for her daddy! I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her meltdown!

All in all, Wylie enjoyed her beach week! She learned to love some girly things, much to my dismay but thanks to my sister. Princess nightgowns and Aerial undies! 2 things this momma won’t buy! I think we get by just fine with Elmo undies and baby dolls!

Beach Week- Charlie Style

The lone solider! Charlie was once again surrounded by 4 other girls for a week of beach fun! Never fear, Charlie can hold his own! Although there were several sets of high heel dress up shoes for him to become distracted by, he remained steady in his love for Buzz and Ronny Car! (Actually, he used the dress up shoes as “skateboards”!)

Come Sunday morning, Charlie was ready to hit the beach. I had made an early morning run to the local beach shop and ended up purchasing Jay a shovel to dig Charlie a hole on the beach with. Still unsure if Jay actually ever used the shovel because Charlie LOVED his “shobbel”. Sadly, the “shobbel” did not last long as it soon became a weapon and had to go “bye bye”! Maybe next year!

To divert Charlie’s attention from his “shobbel”, we turned our efforts to boogie boarding like Ella! Charlie wanted to do anything Ella did, so the boogie boarding was a hit. Thanks to Uncle Jeffery for braving the wild ocean waves for me! This mommy likes to see her feet in the water so this task was a little frightening for me!

After more attempts on various days to allow Charlie to survive the day with his beloved “shobbel” …

Charlie found happiness in DooDad’s ice cream cones!

And what would a week at the beach with my sweet little boy be, if he didn’t create a laughable outfit for me!? Scuba Steve appeared one afternoon and decided fish hunting in the big puddles on the beach was an activity worth doing!

When the beach had taken all the energy from this little one though, our crew headed back to the house to find additional entertainment for our crew of kids!

A hose pipe can never become an old trick!

Charlie was so happy when his daddy arrived to play on the beach with him! Mom was getting a little boring ! I love these 2 boys!!!!

Finally, as the week was drawing to a close, Jay, Amy, Bubba and I, along with our crews, decided to brave the local putt putt course. Hoping this would be a much needed activity away from the blazing beach heat. So we loaded up and off we went! To me, everything about 9,000 degree weather, a putt putt course and 4 kids sounds thrilling! And it was my friends. The 4 adults realized quickly why people wait until after dinner for the activity of putt putt!

But look at this shot! Charlie really did this folks! Making his daddy proud!

And so, Charlie’s week of Pawley’s Island fun was a success! We left the island was “Big Buzz”. Because Little Buzz was not wonderful enough! I think Charlie was able to sucker his daddy in and play a little guilt card since he had been stuck with the girls all week! Despite being with the girls though, Charlie had a wonderful week full of wonderful beach memories!

But my favorite memory of all was when the little booger finally slowed down long enough and took a quick 30 minute nap! I could have sat here forever with my wild man!

Back At It Again!

 

Sadly, I must inform those of you who read this blog, the Bailey Bunch is headed to the beach again!  This time with the Rutland side of the family!  I am sure this week promises lots of sunscreen, wave splashing and arguments between Ella and Charlie! 

Because we were enjoying Baby Bess’ arrival this time last year, we missed our Pawley’s trip for 2009.  So here we go this year, with one more little one to enjoy!

On a side note, this is what THE BIRTHDAY BOY at our house, or as Charlie has begun calling him lately “Daddy Bubba” looked like this time 2 years ago!  Armed with all the requirements for infants, this good daddy loaded lots of “necessary” items into the car for us.  Again, this year was no exception! 

Happy Birthday to the best daddy in the world!  We love you with all our hearts and can never say thank you enough for all the wonderful things you do for us! 

“Draw Hands”

Ever since Wylie was exposed to having her hands painted and traced in school this past fall, she is ALL ABOUT IT!  If you ask Wylie is she wants to color with crayons, she immediately thinks you are going to be sitting beside her tracing her hands over and over onto the beautiful coloring pictures of Elmo, Abby or Curious George! 

While I love tracing her sweet little hands, I would hate to deprive anyone else of this joy!  Thankfully on our visit to see Mamaw, she was ALL ABOUT tracing hands too!   Right up Wylie’s alley! 

Soon the fun switched and Wylie insisted that it was Mamaw’s turn to have her hands traced!  Lovingly, Mamaw took every jab of crayon into the knuckles with a smile on her face !

Mamaw did try to teach Wylie the correct way to use crayons and coloring books.  She gave it a good solid effort!  But it was not in Wylie’s vision for her coloring activity!  Better luck next time!

Maybe we will master coloring on the picture this year in 2 year old preschool! 

A DooDad Classic

What happens when you leave DooDad alone as the babysitter of The Bailey Bunch for 2 hours?  

The answer:  Baby Bess turns into a Moon Pie-aholic!

I believe the Moon Pies were intended to be used as distraction tools while I quietly escorted myself out the door, however, the distraction really only worked for Baby Bess. 

  Since picky picky Wylie, would not eat her Moon Pie, Baby Bess took it upon herself to finish the job! 

I think seeing how Bess has a clear love for Moon Pies thrilled my father!  He is a personal fan himself of this time honored Alabama snack.   And I could almost bet, if he had had  himself a can of RC Cola, he would have let her have a sip of that too!

Although she ends up very messy after this marshmallow treat, she loves each and every bite she takes!

Loving the Beach – Part 3

 

Despite the fact that this is how our precious daughter began her beach trip,

by the end of the week, Wylie had taken on the attitude of her big brother and was lovin’ the ocean!  

These 2 chased each other in the ocean just a giggling as they went!    

Baby Bess continued to be her laid back self and enjoy whatever activity was at hand!  

We had such a wonderful week at the beach with the Bailey clan!  I can only imagine what people thought of us each day as we unloaded all our “necessities” for the beach day and began to chase the 5 little loves we had with us!  Can’t wait for next year!  Thank you Yaya and Pop Pop for a wonderful house and week!