Surfside Beach

 We did it!! We finally made it to the Texas waterfront! Surfside Beach was clear, shallow but still had surf, it made for a fantastic day trip!!

These kids were exhausted and happy - my favorite combination

We haven't flocked to the beach here for several reasons, the main one being that it is usually a lot of work. Parking, dragging all of the stuff - in the heat - and then managing young children in natural water has been more work than we were willing to do in a day. This is where Surfside was ideal, you drive right along the beach looking for a parking spot on the sand. Your stuff is right there!! Once we parked, we put up a tent for shade and tailgated on the beach. Someone needs a snack - we've got a cooler, someone needs a drink - we planned for that too. The only thing lacking was a fully built bathroom, port-a-potties were the only option. 

Our friend's son Jacob was an immediate Alex fan - and Alex loved every second of it!

The sand went on forever, with just enough water to keep you cool

We will absolutely do this again!

Lexington Summer

Halfway through our visit, we left White Stone for Lexington to visit the second set of grandparents. Virginia summer did not disappoint, with lots of hot sunny days and a few spectacular thunderstorms. 

On the days that we too hot to handle, we were able to spend them in the water. The pool available to us in Lexington was near-empty and fully equipped with a good ol' deep end and full sized diving board. Our water babies were in heaven. Especially the daredevil.

The 3-year-old was on repeat jumping off of the diving board only to swim to the side, crawl out and do it again. Times 100. Daddy and Gretchen made sure that he always made it back to the side.

Alex is a diving board champ in his own right, and was showing off his best moves to the nonexistent crowd.

After working up that kind of appetite, there is only one true solution. Pizza. Homemade - down to the oven itself - and perfected over the last 10 years. These little balls of dough are a labor of love, that we a look forward to each visit.

The fire is closely monitored - and insanely hot!

Gran is a master pizza builder, with toppings as far as the eye can see. Alex wants all of the cheese, but she makes sure that this young pizza-maker doesn't overload his dough with too much sauce or topping. For the biggest kids, we get fancy options like Thai Chicken, Buffalo, Veggie and Potato. It's our own personal pizzeria, with the additional perks of dessert pizza at the end of the night.  

Gretchen takes her topping choices very seriously.

Poppa is the expert oven master - but Daddy did a pretty good job after some advice

This little dreamboat kept busy with the new puppy

When we kids want to stay cool and want an alternative to the pool, Gran and Poppa have the brilliant idea for more water play! Sliding! Pushing! Running up hills time after time! It's Slip and Slide!! This is not the plastic tarp with a hose strapped to the top of my youth - it is complete with inflated bumpers, a sprinkler system for your trip down and little inflatable sleds to cushion your ride. My memories of a jagged rock-studded trip down a semi-dry plastic sheet are gone after this incredible summer heat-buster was in full effect!

We love visiting Virginia, and look forward to new adventures, and repeating fun traditions each year when we are able to get back east.