Ready to hit the beach

Let me start this blog post by saying if I haven't already mentioned a MAJOR perk of coming to Gulf Shores for a vacay, then I need to take this opportunity now.... THE OUTLET MALL!!! It is a very big outlet mall, with really great stores. Ok. That's all I have to say about that! Now, let's see what all goes into getting ready to head down to the beach!

First, we have to spend about 15 minutes letting Ellie pick out her bathing suit. Since this one was new, it wasn't that hard for her to choose today. She DOES love new things!

Then, we have to go through the barrage of sunscreens... the one for the body for babies. the one for their faces. Mary Allison's afro sheen, which she says is actually oil and gives her a pretty tan (and pretty skin cancer when she's old, we tried to warn her!) .

Ellie generally has to dance or perform in some manner before heading out for the day.

Gabbi Girl, my good eater, wanted a snack before she went down, so I left her in her gown while the others prepared to head on without her. I took her down later!

She ate that WHOLE snack bag of popcorn... with no help from anyone!

Mary Allison typically needs to pose as well. Once she has chosen the perfect swimsuit, cover up, hat, bag, beach towel, and drink holder. She is a coordinator, if nothing else!

Which then means, Ellie will need to wear a hat as well. Today's choice, Gabbi's tan fedora.

She, too, has to grab a handful of carefully selected pool toys before she can hit the beach.

She THOUGHT she was going to get away with that bag of paper dolls which I had already nixed!

I'm gonna tell ya..."handful" doesn't even begin to explain this one.



Actually this one either! Julianne is new to my crew,so she is a bit on the quiet side.

So glad to see Mary Allison got it all coordinated. Looking good girls! And now, for what Todd has to get ready! FRUITY DRINKS!! I asked about the recipe, but noone could give me specifics. Here's what Linda Lou said.... "Diet Sprite, Light cranberry juice, Vodka, and some orange juice." Then they always have a ziplocs FULL of cut up fruit to adorn your drinks. Orange slices, green grapes, purple grapes, slices of banana, pineapple, and strawberries, ... thus "fruities".

Todd actually topped ours off with pineapple juice which was kinda the bomb.com!

Someone later in the day came up with a different fruity, where they added rum, and peach schnapps. And "someone" didn't make it to dinner that night either! I think I'll just stick with the original recipe!

And here comes my angel baby. She, too, has a new Hello Kitty bathing suit to coordinate with her sissy's. Not that either of them realize that.

Gabbi likes to wear her sunglasses upside down. If I try to fix them, she just gets aggrevated and flips them back over!

I think I should contact Coppertone! I think they'd be interested in that picture above for their marketing materials! How cute is that?! She seems to be promoting their product!

And as for shoes, she can only wear Ellie's flipflops. If she tries to wear flipflops of her own size, she can't keep them on. Anyone else experienced this?! I don't think she has very good fine motor control of her feet. For instance, she never knows when the dealibob is between the, like, fourth and fifth toe, vs her big toe and second toe. She seriously has no idea. And can't fix it either. She can't just wiggle her toes/ feet around to adjust. We have to sit her down and fix them for her. But enough about that! Have you ever known of a beautiful model who has poor fine motor control in her feet?! No? Well, that's because noone cared or bothered to ask. So, nevermind this whole last paragraph... it's the pediatric PT in me.

MO,PT