It was so much fun watching Dean experience the beach. He is talking so good and it is really neat to carry on a conversation with him about what he is doing. He had a blast making a "dribble" castle (as he called it!) and then promptly knocking it over. He loved burying his feet and pretending that we were going to leave him stuck there. And he just couldn't wait to use his big "shauble" to dig in the dirt. He also made us laugh when we were downtown and he saw a horse drawn carriage. He said "I EVER seen one of dose momma!". (He substitues "ever" for "never" a lot!). His running commentary on everything he saw kept us laughing.

"What is all dis traffic...we are ever gonna be at da beach?"
"We need dat policeman to skooch dose cars out of our way."

"Is dis da beach?" No, this is the hotel.
"Is da beach at da hotel?" No, but it is close.
"Why are we at da hotel?" Oh yeah, you've never stayed at a hotel before. We sleep here and then drive to the beach.
"So...dis is is the hotel and den we go to da beach and dig in da sand." Yes

"Is dis da beach?" Yes
"Can I get out and dig with my big shauble?" Not right now.
"Why can we not get out of da car momma?" Because Daddy was trying to drive onto the beach like those other cars and now we are stuck in the sand. Pass Daddy your big shovel so he can dig the tires out.

One of his favorite things we did was go to the beach after dark and look for sand crabs with our flashlights. He chased those little "crabbies" all over the sand! He told us before we went that he was going to go out there and say, "hey crabbies, come over here!". His creativity is really amazing. We had a blast seeing the beach through his eyes and catching his excitement. It was a great family vacation. Our first!