Beach Trip (lots of photos!)

We just got back from Tybee Island yesterday afternoon. I'll try and get back to post more details about it later, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with schoolwork at the moment. The highlights included lots of beach time, yummy seafood, a day trip to Savannah, and a boat tour to look for dolphins. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip. Roxanne had an absolute ball at the beach. She loved the sand, and swimming with me and Justin and getting "knocked by a wave." I hope we can make beach visits a yearly thing. It's so rejuvenating. Oh, and for some weird reason (by weird I mean stupid, since I am of the opinion that blogger's photo capabilities are ridiculously non-user-friendly) the photos are in reverse chronological order. So the top are the most recent, and the bottom are from the first part of our trip. Sorry.
Here we are squeezing into the self-made family portrait we are so fond of... On the boat.
I had to include at least one dolphin shot... It was SO neat watching them, both on the boat and from the beach near our studio. There were so many of them!
On the lookout! Roxanne was just as excited to point out the billions of jellyfish as she was to see the dolphins. She loves jellyfish because of SpongeBob Squarepants. She was crestfallen when Justin told her people don't go jellyfishing. Only SpongeBob and Patrick do.
Me and Roxanne on the boat.
She had to wear a life vest on the boat. She didn't complain once! This was from our last morning there. Captain Mike's Dolphin tour. It was lovely, and very cheap.
Doesn't she look crazy??? She was so happy on the beach.
She loved this foam.
vWe took a walk on the beach after dinner one night before getting gelato downtown. Roxanne flitted around like a little bird. Look at her fingers here... So cute.
From the roof of our studio (facing away from the water). We were VERY close to the lighthouse.
Roxanne worrying that the hermit crab would "pinch" me.
She held a hermit crab for about a second, then dropped it. This was in a little gallery/science center thing right downtown in Tybee. They had some really neat fish, turtles, alligators, and this area where you could touch some sea life. It was little, but really neat. And they had a one month old baby loggerhead sea turtle that was hatched at Tybee. It was so tiny and cute!
I can't believe she's old enough to pose like this...
Tybee has these painted turtles all over town.
Our new car! This was right outside our little studio.
Collecting shells for her "shell garden."
On the tour bus in Savannah.
Savannah. Justin squatted down to take a picture with Roxanne, but she insisted on copying his pose and not standing next to him.
Savannah. She was more interested in the Hello Kitty candy necklace than sightseeing. Thank goodness for touristy candy shops in Savannah.
In the studio. The lighting was perfect.
In the studio. She's probably trying to talk me into something here.
She loved loved loved building sand castles with Justin.
She's probably demanding something of Justin here.
The aged, but charming rooftop patio of our studio. The building was attached to what seemed to be a "battery" from the mid-1800's. We think it probably was originally part of that battery and then eventually got converted into living space. It was really neat looking.
The other view from the studio roof.
Here's Roxanne and Justin in front of the door of our little beach studio. It was about twenty minutes after we arrived. She was SO excited to get on the beach ASAP.

Some Roxanne-isms

I am kind of overwhelmed lately with house, school, job, etc. etc. Sorry. But I'm absolutely loving school, and Justin has been great keeping Roxanne for me while I go to class. The two of them are so cute together. In that vein, I wanted to share some of my favorite things that they do. :)

*Justin is in charge of Roxanne's bed time. Always. Every once in a while, I take over, but I know it's not the same for her. Justin does this very specific sequence of things with her every night, and she loves it. They start out with the nightgown, then with a potty trip, followed by tooth brushing (she has a Hello Kitty toothbrush these days; she is smitten), face and hand washing. She has to have a dollop of lotion after she washes her hands. As some of you know, this is a Justin things. I let my hands crack and bleed before I put lotion on them, but Justin uses it EVERY time he washes his hands. They are smooth like baby skin. Roxanne is now incapable of getting to bed without her lotion. After that part, she comes and tells me goodnight, and gives me a kiss. Sometimes that includes discreetly wiping any excess lotion off onto me. Or onto whatever surface I'm sitting on or near. Sigh. After this, they read stories, usually two, although Roxanne lately has been angling for more. Then they go to her globe on her dresser, and point out different places. I think sometimes they spin it, but she always asks to see Georgia, Colorado, and Mexico (the last one I'm not sure why she is so interested in). She also asks for Italy a lot, in part because of a Wonder Pets book she has that takes place there. She can point to all of them on the globe on her own and name them most of the time. It's so cute. After that, they turn on her nightlight and radio (she listens to classical music on her sound machine all night) and then she turns out the light. Once Justin tucks her in, she gives him a kiss. If it's not somehow quite right, she makes him give her another one, leaning up and going "mmmmmmm!!!!" Most nights, that is all. But some nights, like tonight, she gets back up, opens her door and makes an elaborate excuse as to why she can't sleep. Tonight she told us, "I laid in my bed, and my arm was asleep and in my bed my poo poo hurt and then I needed to poo poo in the potty but I need to sleep in the big bed." Sigh.

In other news, she is more and more interested in going to "school." Ben and Locke both started, and now she asks about it. We plan to look into it for next year. In the mean time, my new schedule means we have Mondays and Fridays until noon to hang out with just the two of us. This morning, we ran some errands, and went to see the animals at the pet shop. They had TONS of kittens. I wanted to put them all in the car and take them home. Roxanne parrots me when we leave: "Bye bye kittens! I hope you all find a nice home!"

I'm off again to do some school work. Nathaniel Hawthorne and William Carlos Williams. But not at the same time...