december 21

I remember waking up Sunday morning at the beach and being so excited to see hear the waves right outside our window. Finley was in the same room as us in a play pen. We had kept the windows cracked open in the night so we had heard the waves all night. But waking up to it was something entirely different! The sun came in through the windows over the ocean, so the room was already getting light when Finn woke up. I got him out of his play pen and then took three pictures of him seeing the ocean for the first time. That was very special to me since the beach is my favorite place to be with family. It wasn't until later that I found out this was also Matthew's first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean.

Finley's first glance out the window at the ocean.


Still half asleep. He was probably wondering why I was so excited about this. =)


Matthew and Finley out on the beach together.

Matthew getting ready to put Finley down on the beach for the first time. (These pictures are out of order.)

And he's off!

Feeling the sand. He loves sand boxes so I knew he would have fun on the beach.

This is the third picture of him seeing the ocean for the first time.

Grandma reading "Hop on Pop" to Finley.

Finn's wet footprints up to the house after being in the ocean for the first time.

Matthew and Finley standing in the freezing cold water together.

Finley was a little scared of the waves, thank goodness. He kept trying to run from them.

The salmon-colored house is where we stayed the week.

Grandpa and Finn in the dining room.

Grandma and Finn in the living room.

Walking down to the beach.

Sarah playing with Chloe.

The view from our room the first part of the week. Sarah and John ended up switching with us on Wednesday because first of all, they should've had the master bedroom and secondly, because it turns out Matthew and I don't like waking up 10 times a night from Finley crying. We were able to move to 2 adjoining rooms down the hall. It worked out a lot better.

The master bedroom. It was a beautiful house with a fully-stocked kitchen and a huge plasma TV in the living room. You could tell that there had been a lot of time and effort put into the house.

Finn and I on the beach. It was a little chilly a few days, but still so much fun--and a lot warmer than where we had just come from.

On the beach.

John (Sarah's husband) loves to golf and was able to play at several places at Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area. Matthew went along a few times. They both had a good time. These are John's shoes after a day of golf. Finley decided that they looked better on him and claimed them for a few minutes. We were surprised that he could even pick up his feet, but he was able to take several steps with them.

Becky and Chloe. I love her Mohawk!

Finley sitting in the spare booster seat.

Holly and Finley on the beach.

Feeling the water for the first time. Like I said, it was freezing cold.

Finley was taking out the seashells from a centerpiece on the coffee table and putting them back in for Grandma. It was so sweet to see them together. She was so patient with him.

Oh, Sarah and the seagulls. There's always something exciting that happens with Sarah and the seagulls. One beach trip, she was feeding them off of the balcony and actually got them to come into the hotel room and eat the bread. Here is Grandpa, Sarah and Finley feeding the birds. At first, Finley tried to eat the bread himself, but then got the hang of throwing it pretty quickly. Watch Sarah about 2/3 of the way through the video where she jumps when the bird comes near her and then hurls the bread at it! I laugh every time I see that part!