Life's a Beach

This post is mostly photos, but I couldn't let our family beach vacation go un-blogged. 

Husband works a lot. A lot, a lot. As in, seven days a week, early mornings, late nights. He works so that we can live in a nice house and have the things we need. I appreciate him so much and am so thankful for everything he does to provide for this family. But, we also miss him. So, the one week he takes off in the summer for our vacation is huge. We never get that much uninterrupted time with him. C was beside herself with all the quality Daddy time!

This year, we ventured to Navarre. My parents were able to join us for a few days and we spent the rest of the week as our family of three with some friends. C loved everything about the beach, but she also loved all the mirrors in the condo. She danced in front of it, watched herself eat snacks, and played dress up with bowls. Apparently, we need to install wall to wall mirrors in our house. 

Things were a little different from last year's trip with 6 month old C. Going to the beach with a baby is hard work. I spent the majority of last year's trip going back and forth to the room for bottles, meals, and naps. Going to the beach with a toddler is so much fun. It's busy, but it's fun.

There is nothing like watching C run and play in the sand. She would have stayed on the beach all day long if I'd let her. Last year, we spent a lot more time in the pool, C perfectly content floating in her flower float. This year, she was not a fan of floating. She's somewhere in between wanting independence and being able to actually be independent in the pool. She doesn't want to be held, but she doesn't want to be in a float. She seemed to like the freedom of the beach more. 

So, we spent our days digging and climbing in the sand, going for walks and collecting shells, and sitting on the hard sand as the tide washed over our toes. C was in paradise. She had both Husband and I with her all day, every day, and got some quality beach time in with her CiCi and Poppa. Life was good.

We're already looking forward to next year!

Through the Eyes of a Babe

I am winding down from a sand and sun induced high, the euphoric result of a full week spent on the beach with our little family of three. For an entire week, my days consisted of sandy toes, sunscreen, naps, and pool floats and ended with dinner that I was in no way responsible for preparing. Not a bad itinerary. 


Our last trip to the beach was for the wedding of close friends two years ago. We tacked on a couple extra days with some of the wedding party and were able to swing a long weekend. We were also celebrating my 25th birthday as well as the birthday of a friend. Needless to say, we had a good time. That trip included late nights out and late mornings in before making our way to the beach. The most important thing we carried to the beach each day was a cooler.


Fast forward almost two years to the date and we are carrying bags of items to the beach, the most important being the diaper bag and the flower float. We spent our days under the safe shade of an umbrella. We applied and reapplied sunscreen religiously. Our mornings started early and our evenings ended by 8:00. We spent the heat of the day cooling off inside. We took naps. It was certainly different.


But nothing in the world compares to watching your child feel sand for the very first time. Or watching her eyes widen with wonder as the tide washes over her tiny toes. I wouldn't trade our new beach experience for anything in the world. Our little beach baby turned 6 months old and had a blast splashing in her float or napping on her beach towel. At the end of our trip, we were tan, rested, and already planning our next getaway.

Life's little changes are often life's best rewards.