Peeps at the Beach (Easter - Part 2)

When we were at Courtney and Guillermo's house, I was busy in the kitchen and turned my back for a second. I heard Judah say "Dean loooves Peeps!" I turned around to see that he and Quinn had taken the initiative to give Dean a little Easter treat and put a Peep in his hand. Dean could see by my face that he had to make a split second decision, so he shoved that entire Peep in his mouth and clamped his teeth shut. He knew a good thing when he had it and he CERTAINLY was not going to let his chance at pure bliss be snatched away!

Well, we saw our opportunity to have a mini beach vacation while we were in Charleston and you can say we snatched that Peep up! Charleston has two sides... The one side is the normal working world, where people go to work and pick up Chick-fil-A lunches for their kids in the drive thru. That side has strip malls and rush hour traffic. That is the side we normally see. But Charleston has this whole other side... the vacation getaway. The side where people lay around on the beach and stare at the dune grasses blowing. The side where people eat fresh oysters and crab cakes at beachside restaurants and drink cold beers at lunch. The shops here sell Palmetto hats, sweet grass baskets and wooden signs that say "Gone to the Beach." And this is the side, that my peeps and I wanted to visit!

So, we drove past the strip malls, over the bridges, past the islands until we hit Folly Beach...



We stayed at the Tides Hotel and were lucky enough to be right on the beach, with a perfect view of the Folly Beach Pier.

We loved taking a swim in their pool overlooking the beach.



And the boys LOVED swimming with their Papa!



After swimming, these two needed a quick lollipop break and snuggled under the towels.



We went out for lunch (although it was a sad, sad story that Bowen's Island was closed). We returned ready to take on the beach...



The boys got to build their much anticipated sand castle (or more like sand bucket) and Viviana got to hang out and rock the cutest little baby bathing suit you ever did see!



Seriously, could you just die of cuteness overload? I mean, come on... Look at those pink ruffles and little squishy baby arms!



After all our beach fun, the rest of the family headed back home and we stayed to enjoy the sunset and an evening walk on the pier.



This is our hotel.



When I asked Devon his favorite part about the entire Easter weekend, he said it was this moment...

"When the fisherman caught the sting ray on his pole!"







This sweet baby face with the still chubby cheeks just warms my heart...





Deansie, doing his best Abercrombie modeling...



And being a little boy again...





I treasure these moments with my family, when I can take a minute and truly be happy.







Family on the pier. Fishermen at sunset. Perfection.



The next morning, I woke to a very peaceful sunrise and peeked out the curtain while the rest of the family were sleeping and snuggled under the covers. But the empty sand was calling to me to come outside and wake up with the sun...



So we ran outside to play...



What a glorious morning! The ocean waves were just sparkling in the sun.



There were seashell negotiations...









The face that brings me so much love...





I was happy to let the boys have their moment, to just use their imaginations and let me quietly slip away to just observe them.



But the most fun we had was just playing under the Folly Beach Pier.









The sun was making the ocean glitter...



While I was enjoying the view, Devon was busy making "mud soup" in the tidal pools around the support beams.





Dean had a standoff with the tide...



I couldn't love this picture more...



Devon didn't care that the tide came in. He was perfectly fine getting soaked through his pants!





Dean loved being chased by the waves...





But to top off a perfect day, Dean had to find his favorite toy on the beach...



I had to laugh when I saw the angle of this photo. Hmmm... Dean looks like he is VERY blessed by nature!



What? My pants are NOT wet!



So after our morning of beach fun, Devon begged for one last swim in the pool..



And poor little Dean was VERY jealous...



Let's just say he was NOT happy to be stuck on the balcony overlooking the pool!



"Hey, how come I always get treated like the baby around here?"



Bye Beach! Thanks for the memories!