May 27, 2014

Beaching it with Babies


Frankly, going to the beach with a baby just sucks. Especially when they are under six months. Especially riding solo with a two year old in tow.  Not the smartest of moves on my behalf, but I was optimistic, because who could turn down two weeks of this?




 Then this is the reality- packing, sunscreening and loading up for an hour for about an hour and a half at the pool.  Ha!


 This little gal LOVES the pool and swimming independently (with a puddle jumper).  The water was too cold for Deeds, so his swim lounger went sadly unused.  However, I brought his favorite piano play mat, and set him up in the shade on that.  This allowed a good 30-45 minutes of pool time with big sister.



 The MVP piece of baby equipment was definitely the Baby Bjorn.  Perfect for child transport to beach (boardwalk steps and strollers don't mix), walking on the beach, and wagon hauling with the toddler, I was so thankful that I brought it.



Ahh, I forgot to mention that this little guy decided that sleep was for the birds, and woke up every couple hours absolutely ravenous.  I was so desperate for some rest that I drove to the Target in Panama City and bought him a swing. It was worth it just to get a couple naps out of that boy.

 I have never relished adult time so much as my anniversary dinner at Havana at the Pearl in Rosemary Beach.  The food was fantastic, as were the champagne cocktails.
 I was so excited for a big beach day once Morgan got there.  We rented chairs, got all the necessities, and hit the sand.  Morgan remarked on the walk there that they would probably last 45 minutes after all this work.  I protested that we had done an hour and a half stretch without setting up base camp earlier in the week.  It would be great! I swear, I get dumber every day.

They lasted 45 minutes on the dot.  Dell Harper had a massive hissy fit sitting in the surf for me to hold her, as I tried to nurse Deeds under the umbrella while covering us up with a towel, hoping he would get sleepy and nap in the super cool little bed I dug him in the sand.  Luckily the waves covered the sound of her wails.  Deeds refused his sand hole, so Morgan held him in the shade, as I attempted to cajole Miss Priss into building a sand castle with me.  She was too far gone into her misery, whimpering "Go home, go home right now and watch TEEEEEVEEEEEEE, Mama!".  Then Deeds had a major blow out.  The shit had hit the fan. It was time to give up.

The couple beside us said their daughters were 5 and 7- this is the first time they had really braved the beach after a couple of disasters.

Next time I am hiring a babysitter, taking a paperback and going to the beach.  ALONE.

10 comments:

  1. I was hoping you'd post on this topic -- the pool is the only reliable summer activity I can count on to sufficiently wear L out, and yet I'm S-C-A-R-E-D to brave it alone. I might need a link to this piano play mat you speak of...

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  2. Ha! I just posted about our trip when Hayes was 4 months old today. Oy. It is SO intimidating! Hayes's biggest issue was that the sun was SO bright and his little eyes couldn't stop watering, so he'd scream. So when he wasn't asleep in his tent, he was buried in a towel on my chest. Anything to get away from the sun. The good news? Now that they're 3 and almost 5, going to the beach and the pool is SO. MUCH. EASIER. There's a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to fun in the sun! :)

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  3. I love you for posting this. I see pictures of happy, smiling families with small children on vacation and wonder "How do they do it?" I'll be honest - we've never taken Blaire on vacation. It's always seemed so daunting. They asked for vacation pictures for a project at school last week and I felt like a big, fat failure of a mom. Maybe I'll book a last minute beach trip for the summer before we have another tiny one to tote along. Sounds like it's best to avoid that situation for a while. Thanks for the advice. :) Hope you get that solo beach trip soon - you've earned it!

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  4. Shelby wasn't a big fan of the beach last year at about 9-months. I'll be interested to see how she rolls this year at 18-months!

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  5. My goodness you guys make beautiful babies. Good call on the swing purchase. ANY PORT IN A STORM. SS has decided sleep is unnecessary. WHY??????

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  6. Older mom weighing in here! We traveled everywhere with my daughter up until she was 4. That was when we had Baby #2 aka my son, Mr. Fussypants Food Allergies. The only place I/we went for the next five years was the grandparents' houses. Now they are 12 and 8 and I am here to testify to the fact that life really is a beach when they get older. We can spend all day at the pool or beach, I read peacefully, they swim independently, run around with friends, help themselves to snacks and drinks from the cooler, purchase their own lunches from the snack bar, spray each other with sunscreen, and everyone goes home happy, tan, and tired. This is why I'll never live further than 15 minutes from a beach!

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  7. My family is taking us to the beach in July and I have a 2 year old and a 7 week old so I really appreciate this honest post. I have been super nervous but funny enough this post actually makes me feel better about it all, knowing that it will likely be hard and crazy but hey, it will make for good memories and I'm not alone.

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  8. you crack me up mama!!!!! this is so similar to how our vacay was it's not even funny...why won't babies sleep on vacation?????
    i think i came back less tan than when we left...all my hours spent rummaging through sand, walking carson up and down the beach (on my hip no less), and carting all that crap to the pool/the beach/back to the pool/etc! so glad yall had fun at havana though!!!

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  9. You crack me up! Hazel was a happy little swimmer on vacation and even napped on the beach, but NOT in the condo - she wouldn't even nap in the pack and play, much less sleep in it at nght, so it was our bed the entire time. It's like they *know* we're hoping for alone adult time, right? These pics are so adorable, though, as always. xoxo!

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  10. hilarious & oh so sadly true. some day the beach trip will get back to what its really supposed to be…relaxing! until then we're all in it together & thank the lordy for cocktails xo

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