Beach Trip: Wind and Waves!

The ultimate {surprise} highlight of the trip for my people was, hands down, the Wind and Waves!  The wind kicked up such rumble, tumble surf the last two days we were there.  These were some serious breakers and I have the red flag pic to prove it! 

 

What made the fun such a surprise was how my babies wouldn't hardly TOUCH the water on our last beach visit 3 years ago on the orange and red flag days.  All the wind and wave noise was overwhelming for a 5-year-old Noah and 2-year-old Anna.  Not so, this time! 

And Josh had as much fun as the kids, obviously going out much farther to ride the waves in. 

Anna was so light that the waves always carried her much farther onto the beach than it did Noah.

It was neat to watch the kids develop timing and quick thinking as they assessed which waves were big enough to hitch a ride to shore on.

Oh, the immediate gratification of boogie boarding.  Ride in, turn around, ride in again.  No wait time at all.  This was the view I saw the whole day as I sat on shore snapping pics.  Them going back and back and back again for more.

Love this face!

I didn't realize until the day was over how much my lens had clouded over with the sand and salt haze the wind was whipping up.  Oh well.

Stopping for a break.  Balancing in these waters was a workout for them.

That's Josh there in the back.  Such great breakers!

Love this shot of Noah catching the wave as Josh rolled in.
Love those grins. ♥

Anna didn't know it yet, but she had a stowaway fish in her suit that came back to the pool with her after this.  She found it back in the room while changing clothes.  Ha!

Noah, ready for more the second day.  You can't tell from the pics, but he was actually more timid than Anna.  But with Anna fearlessly walking further into the water, Noah was emboldened to follow her lead and enjoy the rush and chaos of the surf, too. :) Still, I adore his cautious ways.  It's so him.

I was careful this day to keep my lens covered between shots so I got much clearer pics this day.  Love this one.  

Coming back to home base (aka - Mommy in the chair with the camera) because her boogie float was deflating. : /

Then testing out Daddy's board.

Splash!

When she rode in on Josh's, she flew!!  Next time, the kids get real boards just like his.

This shot basically sums up of beach trip this year.  Love the fun my babies had here.

Thumbs up all around for another great family vacay at Orange Beach.