Playground! And a relaxing afternoon at the beach.

After all the great beach days that we've had, we decided to take a day off. Instead, we checked out some of Ocean City's playgrounds! We liked this one the best because it was shaded...

And then, of course, we went in search of... Ice cream!

After her nap, we headed to the beach for some afternoon play in the sand. Alexa had fun with Mema learning how to make castles with her plastic cups. Kids are so easy to please!

It was late in the day and the beach wasn't crowded, so it was very relaxing. What a great way to end a great week!

BIG NEWS! And ANOTHER great beach day!

We woke up to another great beach day! And a new little baby in our lives! After our wonderful night out with Grandma E and Judy, we got home to find out that my sister was about to give birth to Alexa's little cousin. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that night as we waited up to hear word of her birth! We finally heard that tiny little Athea Vivian was born at 9:28 p.m., weighing 3 pounds, 6 ounces and measuring 16 inches long. She was 5 1/2 weeks early, but cute as a button!

As Athea was enjoying her second day on the "outside," we headed to brunch at our favorite place! Alexa didn't want to sit in the high chair (a new thing) so she sat (sort of) in the booth with us!

And then we headed out for more beach fun... Alexa made more drip castles, this time on her own! It was amazing to see what she remembered learning from Seth. She also played with Daddy, Grandma E and Judy! What a great day.

More beach and my daughter, the model

What can I say, another great day for the beach! We were so lucky with the weather on this vacation. Today, we hit the beach with everyone -- Grandma E, Judy, Papa Howard and Mema, plus Alexa's cousins Jessy and Seth! Alexa was in heaven. She ran around, splashed in the waves, learned how to make drip sand castles from Seth and helped bury Jessy! Of course it helped that the day started with doughnuts from Brown's! Yum!

After all the beach fun and a long nap, Alexa stepped out in her cute bubble outfit. She. was. so. adorable. that mommy could not stop taking pictures! We started off at Papa and Mema's house, where Alexa played with the dog on the patio........

She then started cracking up when Papa asked her to give him five and then moved his hand!

Her laughter continued outside as Daddy continued to play the high-give game with her. Silly girl!

Then at dinner, Alexa was the child of many faces! Talk about a silly girl!

After dinner, it was time to strike a pose...

And finally, the best way to end a wonderful day? Well, duh. Ice cream!

Alexa plays on the beach with her cousins!

Today was a little overcast, but that didn't stop us from having a great day at the beach! Alexa's Aunt Heather and Uncle JP brought cousins Jessy and Seth to the shore to play. And Miss Linda brought Kaylin. Alexa was all smiles all day. She loved playing in the sand with all the big kids! And she loved jumping in the ocean with Mema!

More beach! Plus, Alexa discovers Bob's Lemonade!

Another beautiful day, and another great day at the beach! Alexa enjoyed playing with her pink beach chair and the bucket and shovels that Grandma Lil bought her in Duck, N.C., last year. Fun!

Papa and Mema came with us to the beach. Alexa enjoyed going to the water with Mema and playing with her Grandpa! She was especially excited when Grandpa got her some water ice. Yum!

After her nap, we took Alexa to the boardwalk and while I was taking pictures, she stole my Bob's Lemonade! Doh! Apparently, she likes lemonade. And pizza. And ice cream! What a great night!

1st day of our Beach Vacation!

We're back at the beach! Alexa is loving every second. So are we! Today is the first day of our week-long beach vacation in Ocean City. So, of course, the first thing we did was hit the shore!

After nap time, we headed back to Papa and Mema's for dinner and a play date with Kaylin. Alexa discovered the joy of coloring with PENS! She drew lots of pictures but kept asking me to draw dogs so she could scribble over them. So cute!

More silliness from the girls... Alexa was laughing so hard, we were all cracking up at the faces they were making in the glass door. Ha!

Alexa chows down on Brown's doughnuts!

Yum... Doughnuts! When we got to the beach, we were greeted with a box of hot, yummy Brown's doughnuts from Aunt Jeanie. I picked out one and had planned to share it with Alexa. She had another plan: She wanted her own doughnut! And she ate the whole thing! Then she got busy digging in the sand. Finally, cousins Jessy and Seth came over to play and had fun burying Alexa's feet in the sand!

More beach, this time with Alexa's big cousins!

The day started off rainy and overcast, but once the rain stopped we made a break for the beach. The good thing about the rain is that the beach was almost empty! Almost immediately, Alexa started grabbing handfuls of sand and throwing them on daddy's beach chair. She thought it was the funniest thing!

Alexa continued to stay busy... She used her watering can, put sand in her bucket, played some football and enjoyed more water ice! Meanwhile, I had a good time relaxing in a beach chair while Alexa's cousins chased after her and kept her busy!

Beach! Finally, we're back at the beach!

Alexa has been excited all week for the beach! We were talking about it in the car ride home Friday and when we pulled up at home (and not the beach), Alexa broke in to tears crying "Beach! Beach!" So she doesn't understand the concept of "tomorrow" or something that we're going to do in the future yet. On Saturday, we told her beach and we delivered! She was in heaven playing in the sand and even made a little friend who shared his hole. Good times.

After the beach, Alexa took a nice loooooong nap. Then we headed to Aunt Heather's for a family cook-out. Alexa had fun swimming in the pool with her cousins. She also had fun playing peek-a-boo with the door to their little play house. And riding on their sea-saw. And looking at the fish! And eating watermelon! Yum!

Alexa hits the beach! Yeah!

Alexa was SO EXCITED to hit the beach this weekend. Daddy took her up to Ocean City to spend Father's Day with his dad. As soon as they arrived, they headed straight for the shore. I'm told Alexa ran around playing in the sand and having a grand time!

Last day in Hawaii!

On our last day in Hawaii, we headed to Lanikai Beach one more time... And Alexa made a friend! Actually I think she just wanted the other girl's toys. They were cute playing together. Unfortunately, the beach was REALLY windy. We headed home for naptime, followed by some pool play.

Alexa decided immediately that she loved her new Roxy hoodie! "Purple!" she said. Yes, it is. Check out how cute she is! She was serving up "shots" of water in a bottle cap and giggling up a storm.

More Kauai vs. More Winward Mall

After a nice breakfast and walk around the grounds, Daddy and I enjoyed our last day on Kauai at the pool, relaxing and doing nothing. It was fabulous!

Meanwhile, back on Oahu, Alexa spent another morning playing on the Winward Mall waterfalls and toy cars. Looks like she had a blast!

We got home in the afternoon and took Alexa on a walk to Kailua Beach to see ... DOGS! It was windy, but she enjoyed playing in the sand and yelling "Hi!" at all the dogs she saw. So cute!

We sat outside for dinner and Alexa had another ice cream bar. Uh-oh, what have we started here?!

Lanikai beach with Kamakoa! More pool!

We had a great day at Lanikai Beach today with my friend Cheryl and her son Kamakoa! Alexa was pretty fussy at fist, but she eventually warmed up to the sand. She even started chasing birds around and using her bucket to scoop sand! We also got her into the water by playing games. When we said goodbye, she gave Kamakoa a hug. It was so cute!

After Alexa's loooong nap, she enjoyed some afternoon pool play with Daddy and Grandpa Tom!

Alexa feeds ducks! Plus more beach & shave ice!

Another great day in paradise! Alexa got up early again, so we took her for a walk on Duck Lane to see, you guessed it, ducks! We saw a few, but when we started feeding them, more ducks started high tailing it over from all over to get scraps of bread! We also saw some baby ducks. Alexa was mildly amused.

After all the fun with the ducks, we headed for Kailua Beach Park. Daddy set up the umbrella and mat and we had a great time hanging out. Alexa tried chips for the first time and, big surprise, decided she liked them. She also tried on Daddy's sunglasses. Around noon, she got tired and we headed home for a nap.

After Alexa's nap, we headed out for some more shave ice at Island Snow! Yum! Alexa has started calling it "Purple Ice" because that's the color of shave ice Daddy had the first time she tried it. Ha!

Alexa's visits Kailua Beach & Island Snow!

Alexa got up early, so we headed to the beach! She was admittedly a little upset when we first got to the beach. Maybe it was the wind? She didn't want me to sit down, or put her down. Finally, we coaxed her into sitting on the towel. Then we got her to play with her toys. She ended up having a great time!

The same scenario repeated at the pool. Alexa loved her swim classes last summer, but cried when we took her in the pool! She finally calmed down and had fun playing next to the pool. Silly girl!

We ended the day with some shave ice at Island Snow! This is one of my favorite places in Hawaii. It's only about five minutes from where I grew up. And, as you can see from my collage below, it's also frequented by President Obama, who has spent two Christmases in my hometown. Cool!

Finally, blue skies and sun!

What a beautiful day! The sun was out and we enjoyed blue skies. It was still windy and chilly on the beach, so we only stayed for a short time. Alexa had fun playing with her toys. She put the rake and shovels into her bucket and then took them out. She also climbed up into an adult chair. Fun!

After our beach fun, we walked down the familiar path back home so Alexa could nap...

In the afternoon, we decided to go bike riding! It was Alexa's first time in the bike trailer. She seemed to like it, but she had just eaten lunch and unfortunately her stomach didn't do so well. So we only rode for a short time. Still, it was lots of fun! We are hoping to do more bike riding in the future!

After our ride, it was so nice out, that we headed back to the waterfront shops to toast to a great trip.

When we got home, we decided to take one last walk along the beach...

Alexa had fun playing with Daddy and giving him big hugs. Daddy loved every minute!

Then, at the last minute, we decided to catch the sunset! So we headed back to the boardwalk that we had discovered yesterday. Alexa enjoyed watching the sun sink into the water... It was actually her FIRST sunset! First of many... What a great trip!

Click on photos to enlarge!

Walk to the beach and Alexa gets a cookie!

The rain let up today, but it was still gray out and chilly at the beach. So went for a nice walk on the beach with Alexa, who was bundled up in her now-favorite sweatshirt -- a gift from her NJ cousins!

After her nap, Daddy and I took a walk into town while Alexa napped in her stroller. We found a neat boardwalk built along he shore side of Duck that is probably a great place to watch a sunset. Finally, we ended up at the town's top-rated coffee shop. Alexa got excited looking at the treats, so we let her have a cookie. She loved it!

Click on photos to enlarge!