Florida Vacation

I have grown up vacationing in the same beach spot for more than half my life.  It's the anti-tourist vacation - remote and nothing to do but play on the beach, read books, and go on long walks.  I'll take it!  
Let me also add that said remote beach location is not just a hop skip and jump away.  It's not even easy to fly to, as it still involves several hours of driving.   Since beach house life requires so much STUFF (towels, sheets, water toys, a few food basics, etc.), it just makes sense to drive.  And drive we did!  All 16 hours (each way) with my 2 parents, Guy, myself, and BECKETT.  oh my!  
Beckett was actually perfect.  More than perfect - he hardly slept and never threw one fit or complaint.  There was a bit of moaning at 3:30 am when he was trying to sleep and couldn't, but we weren't opposed to a little late night showing of the Cars movie to fix that.  (Desperate times and all that....)
Anyhow, after we arrived we were dying to see B on the beach.  Here were his first few steps...

Of course, he had been to the beach two other times - but it had been a whole year so he didn't remember.  At first he was a little timid and wasn't quite sure what to make of the sand moving beneath his feet.  But with each passing minute and then day, he would warm up and get more and more comfortable.  

He quickly learned that sand digging is a great past time.  So is chasing momma with the sand and getting her all dirty!  We all had the best time playing with him - he was at a great age for a beach trip too.  Still cautious and wouldn't go in the water without us right there, but could play and entertain himself on his own a bit too.  Sometimes he liked to play little games where he would run out into the ocean and run back, trying to not let the water get him.  Most of the time he fell and we ended up having to quickly grab him so that he wasn't consumed by a wave...ha!

These pictures make him look like such a big boy...

Of course, we did more than just play on the beach.  Each day we would usually go to a restaurant for one of our meals - mmmmm fresh seafood!  Oh, but I haven't mentioned that I was actually pregnant!  Yep, 10 weeks!!  So not much seafood for me, but that was ok.  One night I insisted that baby and I needed s'mores so we made a big campfire on the beach and I devoured three :).  I made up for my limited seafood.

 

I also insisted on a mini photo session with my boy.  It lasted all of 4 minutes, but that was alright.  

We had three glorious days of perfect weather and tons of beach time.  Unfortunately after that came the storms.  For 2 days we pretty much stayed in the house and just watched the rain come down.  I read 3 books (which was kinda heaven) and stuck to my regular pregnancy napping schedule.  

When we did get back on the beach, it was just for short periods of time before we were hit with rain again.  But, we made the best of it!!  

One of Beckett's funny quirks is that he is OBSESSED with pushing/pulling things around.  Even when he first learned to crawl he always had a book in each hand to scoot around.  When we brought out this boogie board he was in heaven.   He finally had something to drag around!  

It quickly became a game to pull B and try to pull Dada on the board.  

And, as you can see, by the end of the week he was so comfortable with the water and was a true beach baby.  

It's funny how different my family beach vacations are now.  I think about how much fun and full of JOY we were making these memories with Beckett and my parents.  I'm sure there's way more eloquent ways of saying it, but being a parent is just awesome.  Really, really awesome.

We love you, buddy.