Vacation?... What Vacation?

This year the Tatum clan started a new tradition.
(at least I'm hoping/praying/begging that it be a new tradition).
Phil's parents rented a beach house in Charleston for a week for all the kids and their families. It was a FABULOUS idea, and we were soooo excited for our big family trip to the beach. It was to be Luke's very first trip to the beach, and I had been day dreaming for months beforehand about doing all the adorable baby's-first-time-at-the-beach things with Luke and taking the most adorable pictures of my Stinker discovering the wonders of sand and surf. Well, we had 2.5 whole days of pure joy and vacation bliss....and then it was over. We arrived at the most fabulous beach house late Saturday afternoon and by Tuesday morning Luke had developed a fever. The fever was just the beginning of what we later learned was foot and mouth disease. By Thursday when we took Luke to the doctor, he was covered in the ugliest blistery rash, still had a fever, and was not really eating or drinking. The worst part by far, though, was that the virus had turned Luke into the most EVIL MONSTER to ever walk the earth. He must have felt absolutely miserable and been determined to make the rest of us feel the same way. His behavior and over-all demeanor was unlike anything I had ever witnessed before in his lifetime. It was BAD. And on top of all that, he figured out how to climb (read: nose dive) out of his Pack 'N Play, making it completely impossible to contain the evil. All this to say that Luke's and my vacation was over as of Tuesday, more specifically Tuesday at 10:00 pm when he woke up screaming from a deep sleep and was awake and miserable until 4:30 am. I felt like I was dying a slow tortured death. I can't imagine how bad Luke must have felt. Anyway, because our 7 day vacation only lasted 2 days, we only have 2 trips-to-the-beach-worth of pictures. Most of the pictures were taken just after we arrived, when I was wasn't even there. I was at the grocery store, stocking up the house with Grammy, and missed Luke's introduction to the beach. Oh well. The first 2.5 days of our Tatum family trip were wonderful, and it was great to see the family and be together. In the end, I guess it was better than being stuck at home with a sick kiddo all by myself while Phil escaped to the adult theme park that is the working world. I can only hope that the Tatum Trip to the Beach becomes a tradition and the Vacation-Wrecking Illness does not.

Luke's very first trip to the beach. Uncle Brian carried Luke the whole way, proving just how strong he is. Despite the look on his face, Luke was actually very happy and comfortable with Brian. He's loved Brian from the very beginning.


Piggies, meet Sand.
Sand, meet Piggies.


The belly.
(also featured here)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the belly.


Headed out with Daddy.


Daddy was just as excited as Luke.


Hmmmm....this is interesting.


Gettin' the Stinker ready for the big waves, wettin' the belly.


Oooh...not so sure about it at first, but once out in the big waves (no waterproof camera = no pics in the big waves) he loved it!

Day 2:


Armed with a bucket and shovel, Daddy and Luke are ready.


Big Man taking charge.


LOVE. THIS. PICTURE.
Three generations of Tatum men....


...in pursuit of someone else's abandoned toy truck.


My men.
And a green ball in mid-levitation.


Bathing Bubba. The winged version.


Luke totally dug the beach.
(i crack myself up)


*Thank you SO MUCH, Aunt Emma, for taking all of these pictures. Without you I'd have zero documentation of my baby's first time at the beach and would have to shamefully turn in my Mom card and reluctantly resign from the position forever.*