is it possible we live so close to the beach but haven't been in 2 years?

well yes. with nursing school, two little ones in 15 months, the adoption, building a new home etc. we just never got around to it. we were invited to spend Labor Day weekend with some family at the beach and took our kiddos, finally. our older ones were so excited to be at the beach again (having lived there for 3 years) and our little guys were excited for their first trip. lily,of course, was very curious. she shared with us that she had been to the beach in china but did not get in the water. she said only the boys did.

we left on thursday after i got off of work (yep, 7pm) and headed off to the beach. we only had one little traffic issue and then we had a big tantrum issue on the way there. you see, lily decided about half way through Kung Fu Panda that she did not "lika the mo-veeee" (it is a boy movie, so she says). she then proceeded to repeat this statement through tears, sometimes screaming, sometimes kicking my seat (grrr) for 50 whole minutes. imagine all 7 of us in the car listening to this. john and i both were about to have a breakdown but somehow we made it through it. she finally calmed down about 5 minutes after the movie ended ( yes I let it finish-I was afraid of reinforcing the behavior) and was fine. we got to the condo about 11pm. the kiddos cousins were up waiting for them. we got to bed late but as usual the kiddos were up bright and early and ready to hit the beach. the big boys headed straight for the waves ( which thanks to a storm at sea were pretty decent) and the others hesitated. they did eventually end up in the water but spent an awful lot of time in the sand. we had a great time and really enjoyed being with our family. 4 days was just perfect for 4 adults and 8 kiddos (2 to 12) to hang out in the condo at the beach. we left with a little sunburn (john), 6 hermit crabs, some cute clothes from the outlets, a big plastic shark and some awesome memories. I took some decent pics and will add them Wed.