March 27:1st full day on the island

On our first full day on Tybee Island we decided we would go check out the lighthouse and then ride our bikes on the bike path and head to the beach.  We packed up swim suits, towels water bottles, snacks, a diaper bag, and sand toys.  Brad had Dean in his bike trailer and I had the stuff in my bike trailer.  Bristol stayed back in the RV where we turned the air conditioning on for her so she would be comfortable.  Can you say spoiled?

My loves!

The lighthouse was only a few blocks from camp.  Besides the lighthouse there were several other buildings to checkout.  We started with a movie about the lighthouse and then decided to get in line to climb up to the top of it.  There were 178 stairs.  It was a beautiful spiral staircase.  After carrying Dean up 2 flights of stairs I handed him off to Brad.  Dean is heavy and I can only carry him for so long even on flat surfaces.  The 3 older kids did a great job climbing up!  The view from the top was very nice and someone was kind enough to offer to take a picture of all of us at the top.  It isn't often we get all of us in 1 picture.

The beaches were wonderful!

A family picture with most of us looking.  

After the climb down we went to check out the caretakers house.  It was restored to how it looked in the early 1900's and it was fun to see.  Actually I really liked how the house was set up.  While we (and many other people) were in the house.  Joel told me he had to go to the bathroom.  I asked Brad to take him while I stayed with the other three.  Joel seems to have missed the whole conversation between Brad and I because he starts loudly saying "I have to poop.  Mommy I have to poop!" over and over again.  It felt like 30 times.  It was probably 3 or 4 times before Brad had him convinced he was taking him to find a bathroom.  He struggles with oversharing.  Once Brad and Joel returned we headed toward our bikes.  To exit the lighthouse area you had to go through the gift shop where everything is breakable and expensive, or at least all the things that attract my kids' attention.  Upon arriving at the bikes Cecilia asks to use a bathroom and her and I head back through the gift shop to find a restroom.

waiting for food

Still waiting

We finally got on the road and started following the bike bath.  We finally found some side streets that weren't as busy and it became a little more relaxing.  Brad, Cecilia and Vincent would be ahead of Joel and I and things were going well.  Joel was saying "hola" to people he saw and it was fun.  Then Joel crashed to the ground and scraped his knee.  It was no big deal he was fine, but there was blood which in his mind means we need a band-aid or ice pack to fix.  In all the things I brought along we had neither.  We managed to convince Joel he could ride his bike and that he and his bike would not fit in my bike trailer.  Joel was still unhappy about all of this and really wanted a band-aid so he cried (very very loudly like a tornado siren) for the next 10-15 minutes until we found a gas station and a restaurant.  I bought some band-aids and we walked across the street and ordered food and suddenly Joel was better and not dying.

His plate of food...they weren't up to his standard

Joel told Dean to play with the crawfish, and he listened

Joel playing with his food.  He even took off the legs.  Maybe someday he will try it.  He was using funny voices and it was rather entertaining.

Feeding the children late is never a good idea and it was after 1 pm when we arrived at the restaurant.  They were very busy and it was a solid 45 minutes before most of the food arrived.  Some arrived 10-15 minutes after the rest of us had our food.  When we got there the kids (and myself) wanted a table that wasn't directly in the sun, so we moved.  10 minutes after moving the kids are all crying because they are cold.  Then they all ate 1/3 of what we ordered and Brad and I remembered why we don't go out to eat somewhere that isn't fast food very often.  Vince was so looking forward to eating crawfish.  He ordered himself a plate of boiled crawfish.  He ate 1.  He didn't like it.  They weren't as good as the ones we bought in Dauphin Island.  Brad agreed but ate them anyway.  Vince couldn't be convinced.  Joel, Dean and Cecilia enjoyed playing with the dead crawfish.  At this point with all the kids starting to melt (tons of exercise plus being hungry is a recipe for disaster for anyone) we abandoned our idea of going all the way to the furthest south part of the beach and we headed for camp.  

Writing in the sand (Joel 2017)....I think this can be considered OT ;)

Not to be outdone Cecilia wrote her first and last name.

And I wrote this and made everyone stand by it.  

We had heard it was easy riding on the beach when it was low tide because the sand was packed down.  If this was true it would mean avoiding riding on the road with the kids and it might be faster.  We found a board walk to get to the beach, got one bike trailer stuck trying to go up the ramp and finally made it to the beach.  The fluffy, sandy, difficult to walk thru and even harder to push a bike in, and miserable to drag a bike with a bike trailer through.  Every time we did it that week the kids would almost be in tears.  Brad and Vince would go first.  I would get Cecilia and Joel to get their bikes as far as they could.  Then they would give me their bikes and I would carry them to the packed sand.  Brad would come back and get my bike for me.  Then we would all get back on our bikes and ride.  The first time we did it we were all giddy and couldn't believe how much fun it was.  We were riding up and down the beach and in circles and into the waves.  It was fun!  

C, D and Brad

Joel..Mr. Happy

Cecilia can run!  Brad loved riding by the waves

Joel actually taking his helmet off at the beach.  He usually left it on.

Rolling in the sand

Sunning

Everyone's attitudes improved and we rode back toward camp a bit and found a place on the beach to play.  Brad and I look for an area where there are not very many people.  The kids (especially Joel) wants to be where there are other kids.  He doesn't care how old they are or if they really want him around.  There were some small pools of water that were trapped higher on the beach when tide went out and the water was really warm in those, but they weren't deep.  I enjoyed watching the pelicans diving down into the water for fish.  I was fascinated by it.  The kids didn't seem to think it was as cool as I did.  The kids loved playing in them and running between there and the ocean.  We built sand castles and just played in the waves until the kids got cold.  Then we headed back on our bikes.  Cecilia was a bit nervous about it and it took some time for me to convince her it was going to be ok.  It was all find and dandy until we had to walk back through the fluffy sand to get back to the road again.

Going in the water to clean up!

As we were riding bikes back I heard a few complaints about being tired.  We got back to camp.  They got drinks and took off on their bikes to ride bikes with other kids in camp.  They did that until it got dark and then we had dinner, watched a movie while eating dinner, cleaned up and headed to bed.  They usually sleep well on the road because we keep them busy and they are exhausted by bedtime.  Brad and I didn't make it much longer than the kids!

My Vincent!

Dean about to ruin the sand castle