Family Beach Vacation

In Heaven at the beach.  There's no place he loves more!

trying to hold Dominic in the water (no easy task at 24 weeks pregnant)

playing in the water with Daddy!

Brian, Dominic, and I took a family beach vacation with my parents and sister Stephanie to my parents’ beach-side rental condo on Amelia Island Plantation, Florida (yay for free vacations!) a couple of weeks ago, and I'm just now posting this as we are still playing catch-up after our trip.  This was Dominic’s 4^th trip to the beach, and he of course loves it more and more each time.  I enjoyed it because Brian was there this time after not being able to come along the last 2 trips in the spring.  Dominic loved running into the ocean water, getting knocked down by waves, playing in the sand, and all of the open space of the beach. 

Aunt Steph and Dominic

Learning to surf...on the beach :)

Just the 3 of us

What’s funny to see is how he progresses each trip.  His first ever trip to the beach was last August when he was about to learn to crawl (he crawled for the first time the day after we returned home).  The 2 trips in the spring Dominic was just learning to walk and actually became a lot more proficient at walking thanks to the beach walking he was doing.  There’s no better place to learn how to walk than a place where you can fall on soft sand.  Now he never walks any more, he just runs everywhere.  With each trip, he eats less and less sand.  He wasn't quite as interested in the shells as he had been previously but was more interested in playing in the sand finally showing some interest in sand toys.  By next year, I think Brian really wants Dominic to be building huge sandcastles with him...so we'll see! 

Having fun running around on the sand

Daddy and son

Papa showing Dominic a scary shark

Nonna and Dominic (in his huge swim trunks)

Couldn't be happier!

This trip he was primarily just running around and definitely most interested in the water and waves.  We had a couple of very scary “wipeouts” where Dominic’s feet got washed out from under him, and he ended up doing a somersault.  He was fine, barely phased, but it gave me a heart attack.  The other problem with the trip was that Dominic wasn’t sleeping well in his pack n play in the room with us, making his whining especially bad during the day.  He was very sleep deprived but kept waking up earlier and earlier each morning.  In the future, I need to remember that under no circumstance can Brian and I share a bedroom for more than a night with Dominic.  It’s too rough on all of us. As soon as we brought him home from the beach he was back to his regular hours - actually sleeping late for several days.  

Practicing his swimming skills at the pool

the whole family at the marina at Fernandina

 Not only did we spend time at the beach, but we also went to the pool a lot.  Dominic loved swimming to all 5 of us.  We all went to dinner several evenings, and Dominic did well at all but one dinner.  The slow pace of the beach does not fit well with Dominic at restaurants since he can really only sit for 45 minutes to an hour before he's ready to be out of the highchair and on the move again.  Brian and I got to go out to dinner in Fernandina for a date while my family watched Dominic one night, which was a lot of fun.  It's always nice to spend time alone with Brian and have a stress-free dinner - no feeding, entertaining, or juggling required - but then to come home to our smiling boy. 

He loved falling in the water

Playtime!

Sunglasses and kisses on the beach

examining the seashells 

All in all it was a good trip though.  The car rides went very well since we left at night and had that beautiful, amazing invention, the portable DVD player.  Plus Aunt Steph was in the back with Dominic entertaining him too.  Next time, I think we'll leave a little earlier though.  The most amazing part was that our car actually wasn't completely full even fitting 3 adults and a toddler plus all of our stuff.  It's amazing how much less stuff a toddler requires than a little baby.  No bottles, pumps, and everything else.    

Our family 

Dominic loved the turtle we found (one of many)

 Since I’m about to enter into my 3^rd trimester, the car rides were a little rougher and then I wasn’t able to chase Dominic around the beach like I would’ve liked.  It was great having my sister Stephanie and my parents there to help Brian and me chase him though.  I got to sit and take pictures for the most part, so it was probably a little more relaxing for me than it was for Brian, but then again he got several day off from his “work” while I was still on the clock. I guess it kind of evens out, right?

My favorite 1 year old in the world

Being silly with his Aunt Steph

My boys and me

I think Brian realized how stressful and non-vacation-like vacations have become for us with a toddler (something that had already been drilled into my head after our last 2 beach trips). It’s certainly not a relaxing getaway like it used to be, but as I pointed out to Brian I wouldn’t trade it for anything (honestly).  These “vacations” are much more fun than those we took before we were parents ever were.  And to be honest that’s how I feel about most every aspect of parenting.  No, life will probably never be the same now that we are parents – less sleep, more responsibilities, more aggravation, BUT most of all, after having kids you have much more fun and experience so much more love.  As relaxing as the laying on the beach may be, I definitely prefer the fun of going to the beach with Dominic and experiencing all of the fun he has there.

More fun in the ocean!

Kisses!

family time at the beach

Helping Daddy build sandcastles

I love our family :)