She can look cute in a suit, but isn't afraid to get dirty! There are many things to possibly dread when taking a 15 month old on her first beach trip-the fear of her hating the sand, and/or the water, the dread of lugging everything out to the beach only to have to lug it back in 30 minutes (flashbacks from Tybee with Rachael when she was 3 months), the fear of sunburn (applying sunscreen literally every 10 minutes) and the then there is the "wont sleep through the night" fear! All these things could lead to a disastrous week, but None-I repeat, NONE of those things occurred! We initially were a bit bummed due to our condo being on the second floor-but quickly realized that Ryan upon entering the condo for the first time ran straight to the balcony and started playing her favorite new game of open/close door (each time waving and saying Bye-bye as she closed the french doors). Now had we been on the ground floor, there would have been no way to contain her-so this turned out to be a happy accident. The first night, there happened to be a band playing across the street, so we walked over and let Ryan work the crowd like the rock star she is, dancing and making friends everywhere! On the way home she encounters a gaggle of ducks, which she thought was cool at first-then they started "chasing her"-not cool...but we had a week to make them our friends (and did-with bagels).
From the next morning on, (after grandma arrived) we got into a great routine, beach in the morning, lunch/naps/pool, then St. Augustine in the evenings. I have to mention how amazing Ryan was at the beach-like she had been going to the beach everyday her entire little life. She got out her sand toys (only stopping to eat the sand a handful of times and a handful at a time), she followed daddy to the ocean, and if we had let her, she would have been half way to the sandbar before we could blink, she collected sea shells with grandma, and took strolls to the pier and back. All these things are very important because, well, I am happy to see her enjoying the beach so much, but mainly it allowed me to chill in the sun without chasing, yelling, or getting up even!
She never got scared, never got burnt, never pitched a fit, never woke up in the middle of the night, basically allowed us to have the best beach vacation you could possibly have with a 15 month old and being 6 months pregnant! One quick story I have to tell, and yes, I am afraid it may be one of those stories you had to see for yourself, but since I am using this blog as her baby book, I have to tell it. On her "walks", she would take off by herself, and all three of us would say, "Where ya goin?". Everytime, she would turn around, wave and say "Bye-Bye!", walk a few feet, turn, wave and say, "Bye-Bye!".....I think you can tell from the first picture above just how cute that could have been!
I do have to give Jamey big hugs for being our pack mule this trip and to grandma for her eagle eye that I never appreciated growing up-but counted on several times this trip!
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