Beach Babes

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Meredith had the awesome idea to take the kids to the beach. But... where to find a beach in the middle of suburban Texas? Turns out the Village at Fairview (only a short drive from all of our houses) has a beach park on site. What?!

The kids loved it. This park is SO COOL!

Jackson took some time to get used to the sand. I put him in his crocs in case he wanted to keep his shoes on, but eventually he just decided to go barefoot. He hung pretty close to me for a good 20 minutes or so before deciding the big slide was worth taking a chance with the sand.

There was so much to do and so much space, but the kids pretty much hung with each other the whole time. First they explored the area around the play structure, then they sat with us and had some snacks. Next, they found an open area to chase each other and throw the beach balls we brought for them. Finally, they settled down in the sand with some sand toys and a dump truck and practiced filling and dumping everything in sight.

While they were busy exploring their environment, I chatted with the other moms about lots of things, especially having second kids. About half our play group already has second (or third!) children, and then a few more are expecting our second kids, and a few are thinking about expanding their families, so it's a popular topic. Recently, I've been particularly interested in how to transition clothes and toys from one kid to the next (especially when the "next" child is a different gender, as in our case). I really appreciate the advice and insight I've received from my great momma friends.

One benefit to an ocean-less beach park, no waterline to watch. We joked that if we closed our eyes, the highway traffic flying by might sound like waves crashing on the shore - haha. At one point, Jackson heard an airplane and pointed up in the air to tell me about it. I was lucky enough to get a picture (see above). It warms my heart to see these kids socialize with each other. They definitely recognize each other and Jackson talks about his friends when he's away from them. I hope we continue to keep in touch with each of their families as they grow up!