Beach Trip- Nightly Fun

During our past beach trips, Mike and I would send the kids in their room, put Spongebob on the TV (for some reason that show seems to ALWAYS be on) and then let them fall asleep. Since we don't have TV at home, this was an exciting privilege for the kiddos. We then used that free time to enjoy each other's company without being interrupted a hundred times. :) That was an easy routine when they were little. But they're getting bigger.
As I made my list of things to bring on our trip, Little Miss Chatterbox asked, "Are you and Dad going to make us stay in our rooms all night at the beach again?" Uh-oh.
It was time for a new plan. I decided to come up with something different to do each night, together, and then hope the kids would be so worn out that they'd happily go off to bed. It worked for the most part! They may not have been happy to go to bed, but they did anyway. Making the bedtime routine as close as possible to our routine at home really helped too.
So anyway, here's what we did each night:

Night One: Game Night!

Even Little Miss Sunshine joined in the fun. She LOVED putting the little checkers into the slots of Connect Four! And she would clap for herself each time. ;)
Night Two: Moonlight Walk on the Beach

This was by far the favorite of the whole family. It was so neat being on the beach at night. We let the kids get their feet wet. But guess who got more than just her feet wet? Little Miss Chatterbox, of course.

The kids loved playing with Dad on the beach.

Me and my girls. :) (And Chatterbox with her wet dress!)

Night Three: Movie night!
Night Four: Birthday Party for Mother Mary!

We always celebrate Mother Mary's birthday at home and when I noticed that we'd be at the beach, I thought of a great way to spend the evening. A party!

We decorated all in blue, the color associated with Mary.

We had blue cupcakes and Party Cake ice cream made by Blue Ribbon. Mike even enjoyed a Blue Moon beer. ;)

We even played games! Balloon hop race and musical chairs.

Our gift to Mary was saying the family Rosary together before sending the kids to bed. :)

Our little themed nights were a lot of fun and I think we'll do it again next year!