Christmas on the Beach

Sunset walks on the beach...
Strutting her cute self on the beach...

Going on a stroll with Daddy...

Enjoying the biggest sand mound EVER...

A being "King of the Beach!"

Yep - it doesn't get much better than that! Over Christmas, we enjoyed a wonderful vacation to Bonita Springs, Florida with the Ausenhus family. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, with daily temperatures in the 80s and the skies clear and sunny. Although it was far from our traditional Christmas, it was an awesome getaway and we all had a great time!

Ben and Abby both loved playing on the beach. On our first time going out on the beach, Abby was very unsure about the sand on her toes and the water. She sat with Papa for awhile and just watched Ben, and suddenly it was like she thought to herself, "I can do this too!" She got up, bee-lined it for the water, and was fearless from there on out. She would squeal with excitement every time the water would touch her legs!

Ben enjoyed being "buried" in the sand, making and knocking over sand castles, running into the water, and playing on the massive pile of sand you can see in the pictures above. On a few evenings, we'd go out on a walk at sunset. We quickly found that we couldn't walk far because Ben would spend most of the time sifting through the shells to find what he considered to be the most interesting ones. He was also glad that Santa was able to find us in Florida and still fill his stocking.

While on vacation, I decided that if I could get out and jog on the beach every morning, my life satisfaction rating would sky-rocket! There is nothing better than an empty beach, cool air, low tide, the sunrise, and a good run. Oh well... my life satisfaction rating is pretty darn high the way it is!

Overall, many fond memories were made and Ben is bound and determined that we need to go back to Florida very soon. I think we all agree!