Baby at the Beach

In my reporting of the beach trip so far, I have not really mentioned how Ben fared, except for brief notes about how we would take turns staying upstairs with him.  While it's true that he didn't spend much time in the water or sand, he still had a great time at the beach whether he was playing upstairs with his parents or Gram and Gramps or taking a brief foray into the great outdoors.

Ben made it down to the beach once during our week.  I took him down in the stroller which was great for wheeling him across the boardwalk, but not so good for the sand.  I got stuck directly after the boardwalk and abandoned the stroller in favor of just carrying the carseat.  We hung out under the umbrella most of the time where Ben happily snoozed.  However, he did think that the sun was a little bright and the wind was a little disconcerting, so he could never fall into that deep of a sleep. 

(Ben and Mommy watch the waves.)

(Beach Baby)

(Peaceful dreaming on the sand)

I think he preferred the beach to the pool though.  Maybe that was because he could relax at the beach.  In the pool, his parents kept trying to stick his feet into cold water!  He would have none of it! 

(Why do they keep dangling my toes in when all I want to do is sleep?)

(Well, maybe it's not so bad when Mommy's here.)

Ben's favorite part of the great outdoors at the beach was definitely the balcony of the condo.  He loved to watch all the sights from the shade and comfort of the porch. 

(Baby+Bumbo+Beach)

I'm sure that next year his trip to the beach will be quite a different experience!

Fun in the Sun

There is lots more to tell about our week at the beach so I'll get on with the story.  Each of the days were filled with lots of fun out on the beach or in the pool.  All of the days were beautiful, maybe a little hot, but that doesn't matter when you're at the beach!

Some mornings Ian and I would get up for a morning run on the beach, other mornings we would sleep in.  Fortunately, we had some willing grandparents to entertain Evan and Ben while we relaxed a bit.  Once we got back, we mobilized to head down to the beach.  We would usually pick someone to stay upstairs with Ben while the rest of us headed down.  Ben plans to fully take advantage of the beach next year, but for now he's a bit small for too much sand time, but more on Ben's beach trip later.

We all had a ball on the beach.  We actually had a canopy to sit under this year.  While it added some drama with assembly and constantly trying to blow away or get carried away into the ocean, it was so nice to have because it gave us enough shade that several of us could easily sit under it and read in peace. 

Evan wanted nothing to do with reading, however.  He was always on the go.  We were very lucky because Wrightsville Beach has these wonderful tide pools on the beach when the tide is low.  This gave Evan a great place to play without having to brave the harsh waves.  He would paddle in the pools, try to catch fish, hunt for crabs, build sand castles, find shells, and all of the other things that you're supposed to do at the beach.  He did this, of course, with the help of his parents and grandparents who were also having a great time playing around.

While Evan didn't really want anything to do with the waves, the rest of the family enjoyed them!  Of course, Gramps is a fish and spent a great deal of time body surfing through waves that I wouldn't even get near.  I don't know how he does it.  Ian was equally competent with a board, and Jennifer would get out and ride the waves too. Not growing up by the Carolina beaches, I'm a little more timid around the big waves.  I got out in them every day, but I liked when they were calmer, or we could find a spot where they were not breaking right on top of me.  I did try my hand at riding the waves on the boogie board, but after ingesting several gallons of water and almost losing most parts of my swimsuit, I decided I would leave that to the true North Carolina natives!

After coming up from the ocean, we always had to walk by the crystal clear pool.  It always looked so inviting, so of course, we took a few dips.  Evan headed down with his grandparents several times, and Ian and I even got to head down by ourselves once. 

Every night we came in tired, but happy.  We would spend the evenings putting the boys to bed, enjoying good food, playing some games, doing some puzzles, and just enjoying each other's company. 

I can't wait to see how much fun both boys have enjoying the beach next year!

(Loving the sun and sand!)

(Tent wrangling)

(Father and son relax in the tide pool.)

(Evan finds an older woman and captains his way through the tide pools.)

(Hmmm, is this the right place for a sand castle?)

(Fishies splashing in the pool)

(Gramps instructs Evan on the finer points of sand castle construction.)

(Heading out to the sea)

Ahoy There Mates!

This had to be the title to the first blog about the beach trip.  We received a CD with our most recent Kindermusik class and the title track is "Ahoy There Mates". Evan really, really likes that song, and it was a little bit of a theme song for the week.  I have learned to love it, at least I know it well because it is on repeat for all of our trips in the car including our 4 hour journey down to the beach.

Now, the drive to Wrightsville Beach is only supposed to be 2.5 hours from Durham.  It's one of the reasons we decided to head down there this year instead of South Carolina.  However, after being sat on by a torrential downpour for a good portion of the drive, it took us longer.  We also had Mr. Benjamin get a bit hungry and have to stop for a meal.  But we really didn't mind the extended drive all that much.  We were on the way to the beach and therefore didn't have much of a schedule! 

Eventually we pulled up at the Dune Ridge condos at Wrightsville Beach.  It was after 4pm and Gram and Gramps had already arrived.  Evan was really excited about seeing the beach and headed straight up to our balcony when we got upstairs to our condo.  After some settling in and a little bite for Evan's dinner, we had to head down to the beach!  Gramps stayed up with Baby Ben, and Gram, Ian, Evan, and I headed down. 

The sun was setting and the beach looked beautiful.  It's the best feeling to step onto the beach for the first time and know that you get to spend the whole week there.  Evan was excited too.  He went out to the waves, but then kept a white-knuckled grip on our hands while the waves licked at his toes.  He wouldn't get out very far, which is good considering how big those North Carolina waves can get so close to the shore. 

As it neared toddler bed time we reluctantly headed upstairs and vowed to continue our beach exploration the next morning.  It turned out to be a fabulous week! Stay tuned for all the details...

(The view facing inland from the front door of our condo)

(Our home for the week)

(We head down to the beach for the first time.)

(and dip our toes in the ocean)

(toddler bliss)

(What a difference a year makes!  Here's a shot from our first evening at the beach last year.)

Eight Years-What an Adventure!

10 years ago I met this guy at a party...

9.5 years ago we started dating...

8 years ago on this very day, we were lucky enough to marry our best friends...

and find our first house...

7 years ago we continued our adventures...

6 years ago we settled in to our own little life...

and our careers...

5 years ago we started our little family...

and continued our adventuring...

4 years ago we graduated...

and our families grew closer...

3 years ago we took off across the country on the biggest adventure yet...

2 years ago our lives changed as a miracle arrived...

1 year ago we headed back home and bought a little house...

and continued to spend time with our family...

This year another miracle arrived...

Look where we are now!  What a journey!  I can't wait for the rest of our lives...I love you Ian!

A Great Week...

Our little family just returned home from a wonderful week of vacation!  I'll fill you in on all the details later, but here's a little preview of our fun...

A Lesson Learned

As we've grown used to going out with first one boy and now two, Ian and I have tried to keep up with our adventuring spirit.  We always liked to try new things and were always going new places.  While we don't get out quite like we used to, we still like to try new things.  However, when we go out we have realized that we go with a different mentality.  Instead of trying to go and do absolutely everything we can, we go, have a good experience, perhaps not doing everything, and then head home while everyone is still in a fairly good mood and we've had a good experience.  Basically, we've learned not to push it.

Well, we thought we had learned that lesson well, but a few weeks ago, we needed a little reminder.  We headed out early to check out Carrboro Farmers Market which is in a little town south of Chapel Hill.  Ben got a little fussy riding in the baby carrier and Evan just ran us ragged getting into everything he could at each booth.  He would beg us to let him try one of the tomatoes on the table, and then when we were actually allowed to have one, he would spit it out and refuse.  He's definitely hitting his stride with the whole two year-old thing.

(The Carrboro Farmers Market)

(The tomatoes Evan refused)

(Evan takes some time to smell the flowers.)

Anyway, we did have a good time looking around at the Farmers Market, and we had a little time when we got done.  So, we decided to try to find an ice cream store that we had never been to.  All of the ice cream comes from a local farm, and the location is near the farm.  So, it was a little bit of a drive.  After about a half an hour of driving we realized that both Ian and I thought the other one had directions, we were lost.  To top it all off, I was in the backseat giving Ben a bottle.  He was screaming through it while Evan was screaming on the other side of me.  We almost gave up and went home, but by that point we were determined to find this place and enjoy some ice cream if it killed us!

After quite a bit more driving and some phone calls to the store to find directions we finally made it.  Evan had a milkshake, Ian had some banana pudding ice cream, and I had some cookie dough ice cream with fudge sauce.  We sat on the front porch in some very comfortable rocking chairs and did actually enjoy the ice cream and the view.  However, we're not quite sure if it was worth all of the angst to get there.

(The view from the front porch)

(Evan's photograph of the front porch)

(Our little family on our big adventure)

So, on the way home, with both boys sleeping in the back seat, we realized, we had not listened to our own advice. We did try that one more thing, we didn't quit while we were ahead at the Farmer's Market, and we did push it a bit too far!  Lesson learned.  Next time, we may not try to have quite such an adventure!