Way Back When-esday: Ocean Isle Beach Vacations!

In honor of our 5th annual week at Ocean Isle Beach with Brooklyn, this week's Way Back When-esday shows pics from her last five beach vacations. I have also included some reflections as well as pictures to remind of me all the STUFF we had to bring. :-) Now, we will just have to start all over again with Bitty Brother's first trip next year.

Year: 2005

Age: 5 months old

*We were just so unprepared as to how much STUFF we would have to take with us to the beach. Bottles, baby food, formula, dishes, spoons, diapers, wipes, baby tent, etc. etc. etc. It was craziness, and since Brooklyn was under 6 months, I was very nervous about putting too much sunscreen on her. So...we went out about 8am everyday. We were back in the house by about 9:30am, and there we stayed for most of the trip. It was definitely a learning experience for us as new parents! We stayed in a small condo housing my parents, my brother and his "new" girlfriend, Caroline, (God help her for actually sticking with the fam after this vacation- ha ha!), and the three of us.

Year: 2006

Age: 16-17 months old

*Brooklyn was so much more aware of the beach this year. She wasn't truly excited about it, but she did enjoy the "big sandbox." She did not prefer the big pool, so my mom went out and got her a baby pool to enjoy out on the deck of our new beach house (MUCH nicer than the previous year's). We also ended up taking it with us to the beach so she would have a place to play.

Year: 2007

Age: 2 1/2 years

*Brooklyn loved the beach but HATED the pool. This was the year I believe that she actually CRIED whenever we went by the pool, so I had to sneak over there for a few afternoons while she napped. We discovered that our beach house had a great wagon, so that is how we carted our stuff back and forth from the beach....I think Brooklyn enjoyed this ride the best of all! Oh yeah, my mom also bought her another inflatable pool for the beach and for the house.

Year: 2008

Age: 3 1/2 years

*This was a huge milestone year for Brooklyn in that she gave up pacis and pull-ups this week at the beach. She came home a grown woman! Well, just a mature pre-schooler. :-) She still didn't love the pool, but we convinced her to play on the steps of the big pool so the rest of us could at least enjoy it for a bit. She did enjoy digging and playing in the sand a bunch, so we brought tons of beach toys for her.

Year: 2009

Age: 4 1/2 years

*This brings us to the current year...you can scroll down to yesterday's post for a long post about this year's vacation, but I did include two pictures, just for comparison's sake. :-)