Beach trip!!!!!

So, I'm going to guess by my blog title everyone is going to think this trip was a blast. Well guess what? You thought WRONG!!! I have decided that no one could pay me to make another solo beach trip with a nearly 3 and 4 year old! Not to mention their newest fear (of dogs, added on top of characters, bugs, snakes-which I agree with lol, water, power wheels-Ella only here, and I'm sure there are more but I can't think of what they are) was quite interesting.

First of all we started off the day on the wrong foot. Nobody wanted the breakfast they asked for so after two breakfasts and still barely any food in their stomachs I told them to eat what was in front of them or go hungry. I am not a short order cook so get over it. Lately my menu consists of two items: Take it or leave it. So after they finally ate enough to where I didn't think Ava would pass out on the soccer field we headed out to do a couple last minute errands before her game. Oh, did I mention I woke up with a sinus attack from hades? Yeah, figured I forgot to mention that part, so of course I was feeling AWESOME that day. Ava's game went ok, despite the (literally) 100% humidity.

We left her game and headed for the beach, stopped for lunch halfway and by then I was ready to pull my hair out. Ella was being whiny as usual-she has never been a model car rider. Ava was bored so I gave her her bookbag of toys (Leapster, ipod and headphones, coloring books and crayons, little toys from the dollar tree,etc.) and I handed Ella one praying she would play or go to sleep. Well she dumped everything on the floor and then fell asleep, great right?

Finally we get to the beach and at this point I am not the most chipper person on the planet. I get everything unloaded from the van (who knew you could need so much stuff for two days?) and into our hotel room. I proceed to empty the cooler so that I can dump the ice in the sink. I pick up the cooler after emptying it and after trying to maneuver it right I somehow grabbed the lid and pulled up, slamming it into my face and dumping the ice and water EVERYWHERE. Housekeeping came and cleaned it up for me (thanks!!!!) and the girls and I went to move the van from the loading zone and went down to the beach for a few minutes. This of course is where the dog fear comes in. Dogs can be on the beach from 5pm-10am ON A LEASH!!! That is a-okay with me, as long as you follow the rules. But no, there had to be two guys with a dog who didn't even have a collar on (mind you she was adorable and if not for their fear of dogs I might have talked these guys into letting me have her!). The first guy sees the girls are screaming (people in Scotland could hear that scream) and comes to get the dog and apologizes while he is berated by some woman for not having a leash or collar on the dog. After a while he lets the dog go, enter guy number two. The dog comes at the girls again, wanting to play. The girls scream so we proceed to leave that specific area after guy number two picks her up and walks off. Then he lets the dog down and then CHASES her right over to where my girls ARE. Ava clings to my thigh and Ella scales Ava like she is a rock climbing wall and ends up on my shoulders. Then he has the nerve to apologize as he laughs.

Remember my chipper mood I said was absent? Yeah, he got to see why redheads have the reputation we have. I let him know how irate I was and then told him I would have animal patrol out there. Sure enough I went inside to the front desk and had them call. At least after that we never saw another dog without a leash while we were there so that was all good.

Spending time on the beach was great but exhausting. Ella wanted to sit and dig in the sand while Ava was getting brave and running into the water. I didn't want to leave Ella alone so some stranger could easily pick her up (even though I'm sure she'd let everyone know she was being taken) and I didn't want to be too far away from Ava in case a wave knocked her down or something. So I made Ella come down closer to the water some of the time and made Ava go dig in the sand some of the time so I could have a break. But lordy if I suggested something other than the beach it was a meltdown from Ella (who used to hate sand by the way) or Ava getting mad at me and showing me her attitude (4 is such a great age...yes this is dripping with sarcasm).

Needless to say, I was ready for Monday to get here so we could be back on home turf! Except of course we hit the ground running as soon as we got here. We, I mean I unpacked, got laundry started, ran to the store, took Ava to her soccer game, ate dinner, gave the girls their baths and put them to bed. It is a wonder how I got into bed before midnight. Now you know why I am still exhausted after that trip lol and why I said it wasn't as great as the title states!