Coxes Do the Beach

Back in the saddle...

In July, we took our annual Cox Family Beach Vaca to Port Aransas. Our first summer was the summer I was pregnant with Caden and now look at us... three kids and another in the belly... we're growing and loving every minute of it.

The beach is always an adventure. I never quite know what to expect out of the kids. Will they like the ocean still? Will they have developed a fear? Are they going to FINALLY want to build a sandcastle? What about long walks on the beach?

Here's the scoop from this year's beach trip!

Caden: Always wanted to be in the water or playing some sort of ball... football, paddle ball, soccer... you name it. He loved learning to boogie board this year, on the SAME boogie board that his Daddy used as a child... I had to throw that one in there for Nana. She is very proud of this fact! :) Justin did a great job showing him the tricks of the trade and he enjoyed it so much. What cracks me up about Caden is that he is so afraid of a swimming without his floaties on, but the BIG huge ocean no big deal... no floaties needed. I guess it's the scale of it all and the fact that you can stand up. He loves the ocean and the waves. He loves to jump and crash and belly crawl through the surf. He loves the beach.

Kaki: She wanted to be in the water lots too. She particularly liked going WAY out with Bop and her Daddy. She loved jumping the waves and was one that we had to watch carefully. She would jump head first and take a mouthful of saltwater over and over again. She loved it. But her newest love this year was for the seashells. She had a great time hunting for them and would get SO excited when the surfing would go back out and hundreds of tiny little seashells would be left in the sand. She'd work so hard to pick them up before they were covered once again by the tide. One day, we had the great luck of walking behind a lady who was depositing beautiful seashells all along the beach. So we followed this Beach Santa Claus type pretty far down the beach and found nearly every shell  she left behind. Once we got home we cleaned them and now display them proudly in our home. Kaki was so proud of her collection. Since collecting is one of her favorite hobbies... seashells are the beach's rocks and she thought they were fabulous!

And this guy! All he needed was a dump truck and a pile of sand to be happy and luckily the beach has lots of sand! :) He was a busy busy boy and never quite worried about getting to the water with all of the fun the sand provided, but when we did go out there he thought it was pretty great too!

And of course he loved playing with his cousins!

DIVA!!

Trying to find the right light for family pics proved to be a bit of a challenge this year, but Caden and Ree Ree snagged a great spot! :) And I need to add our big family picture but I haven't pulled it off of the Walgreens site Cori put it on... I will come back and update it!

Paddle ball was our new game this year... it was SO fun! Caden got to be pretty good by the end of the week! :)

G-Dawg is a cutie!! And also such a happy camper! He loves life!

Nana and Kaki looking for shells...

This year the beach was more crowded than ever... with both people and seaweed! It is amazing how much the place has changed in the 6 years we've been coming here. It's becoming quite the destination for Texans to cool off in the summer heat! You never know who you might bump into or what you might see... and that makes it half the fun. Beach-gating... similar to tailgating is a very serious business! :)

We enjoyed a few meals at Snoopy's, a night at putt-putt where we witnessed G have an epic meltdown... the first I have ever seen. I didn't even know he cried... :) He was so sad that the last hole took his ball... it was the saddest thing you've ever seen. As if someone stole his very best friend. Bless his little heart! He got his own golf clubs and balls for his birthday, thank goodness! :) 

We played games each night... Apples to Apples again this year... it proved just as fun! The boys fished, the girls went to the Aquarium with the kids... (I need to add those pics too). Eek... this post needs lots more work.

But, if I don't get it up I won't...

So...

Here's to another Cox Family Trip to the Beach! Next year Baby B will be joining the crew! I cannot wait to have him here! I know by next July we won't remember what it was like before he wasn't part of the fun! 

Thank you Nana and Bop for treating us to a fun week! We love you and always... can't wait to do it again next year!!

UPDATE: New Pics Added!

FIRST STOP...

Fried Fish Sandwich!! YUM!!

Cox Family Game Night... Caden and Kaki's first...

Shark Tooth necklace... Hey-Ho!!

Crabbin'

Beach baby...

Aquarium Fun!

Mommy's brilliant idea to go crabbin' earlier in the evening proved victorious... even if the males of the family were scoffing at the idea! Hmph! Showed them who knows crabs!