Saying Goodbye to Summer

I don't like to say goodbye to summer.  Summer is my favorite season.  Sure it's hotter than a ten peckered billie goat in a house full of ninny's (authentic quote from my mother-in-law) but I still love it.  But it seems like every year even though Fall hasn't officially started...Labor Day weekend officially ends summer.  I desperately needed to feel the sand under my feet and hear some ocean waves so we headed down to Tybee Island for the weekend.

If any of you know me then you know that I always leave something at home - no.matter.what!  This time everything actually got packed but the bag with all of our toiletries got left.  So I had no makeup, no hair dryer, and no flat iron for my hair.  Don't worry though we did go buy deodorant, toothbrushes and some cheap shampoo but my hair was still something to behold so it stayed pulled back all weekend for fear that I would look like a poodle.  Other than that little mishap the weekend was jam packed with lots of relaxing, ocean watching, sand, swimming, and ice cream.

We haven't been to the beach since Ivy was 11 months old.  She loved it then and she loves it now, but what's not to love. When we first got there we went down and walked on the beach and she had a blast walking in the sand, looking for shells, and chasing all the seagulls. We even saw a lot of dolphins swimming just off the shore.  Ivy is in love with dolphins ever since we went to Sea World back in July and really who doesn't love dolphins?  We were all excited to see them swimming and jumping around so close to us.  Then the next morning we went down to the beach to build sand castles and play in the ocean and Ivy was so funny.  She kept squatting down to do things and I could tell she was working really hard to keep her butt off the ground.  I just thought that was her Daddy in her because he doesn't like to be dirty and the sand drives him nuts.  She finally looked up at me and said "Mommy?  Can I sit in it?"  She sounded so pitiful and I thought that was so cute and when I said "yes" she plopped down and let out a big "whoo-whee!" and giggled.  We built lots of castles and placed them where Ivy told us they should go and we built her a wall around them.  Then she kept wanting to go fill up her watering jug and pour it on the castles.  When I asked her what she was doing she replied "Mommy!  It's raining!"

We ate ice cream every day and one time twice.  And Ivy definitely gets her love of ice cream from me.

We went out to eat Mexican one night and we didn't love the place but it was edible.  Ivy ate a whole basket of chips and a whole quesadilla.  They also had some live music which was nice and I think Ivy may have a love for live music like her parents.  She kept saying it was loud but she was clapping and dancing anyway.

Ivy knows how to represent!!!  She's such a crazy girl!  Like Ivy's shirt?  Check out dig this chick.  She has some really great stuff in her ETSY shop.

We got up really early one morning and went walking on the beach to watch the sunrise.  I love to sleep in on vacation but lets face it...you can't watch a sunrise at the beach and not feel like the world is a beautiful place.

And I know everyone is always telling me that my girl is so cute and beautiful but sometimes her beauty amazes me.  You can't see the crisp blue that her eyes are in these pictures but they are amazing.  I swear she stares right into my soul with those big eyes.

Ivy loved the pool and we spent a lot of time in it.  It's hard with Ivy to carry her around the pool for very long because she wiggles so much and she thinks that she's such a big girl.  She doesn't want to stay in the kiddie pool for very long if there are kids in the big pool.  This little floaty device allows her to swim around by herself and it helps my arms rest...best $15 I ever spent!  Not to mention she thinks it's great fun when she can swim up to you and then say "I get you!" and then swim away really fast.

We ate at Cafe Loco a couple of times.  It's hands down our favorite restaurant at Tybee.  It's small and cozy with a very relaxed atmosphere.  And the food is amazing.  It's always very fresh and served quickly.  And if your kid wants to wear Mardi Gras beads to a restaurant...they won't care at this one.

Ivy takes putting on lipstick very seriously.

Her view finder is her new favorite thing.  She gets so excited about every picture and wants everyone to look.

This was taken after we ate at Cafe Loco and might possibly be my favorite picture of the weekend.

Ivy had her first kite flying experience on Tybee. I paid a whole dollar for this kite at Walmart so I wasn't expecting much but it held up pretty good. She had to have a little help from Mommy and Daddy at first but she eventually got the hang of it. She loved running up and down the beach with that thing.

My next post will be more beach pictures but no words so you won't have to read. I promise you'll love it!