The Return of the Annual Beach Trip, Part One

Kenny, Riley, and I returned from vacation on Monday. We had been at the beach in Perdido, Florida since the previous Thursday with three other couples and their kids. This is normally an annual trip, but we missed last year because of a wedding, a pregnancy, and a few various other reasons. So having not felt the sandy shores of the Gulf since 2009, we certainly weren’t going to miss another year.

Kenny and I discovered very quickly that going to the beach just the two of us is drastically different than going to the beach with the addition of a one-year-old. The phrase “relaxing beach vacation” didn’t even cross our minds once while we were there, but we did have a great time. It’s definitely not the same as the trips we used to take before, though: now that we all have kids, most nights everyone was in bed before 11pm since we knew we’d have to be up by 6am the next morning. Such is life these days, but I don’t think any of us would change it.

We left mid-afternoon on Thursday and arrived at our condo a few hours later to find everyone else already there. Becky, Jeff, and Gabe had been there since Monday, while Karen, Jeff, Molly, and Nathan got there in the early afternoon and Michelle, David, and Jackson arrived a little before we did.

Riley didn’t get to bed until about 8pm that first night, but he amazingly slept through all of the noise we made while eating dinner and watching the unfortunate Saints game. He is such a good boy. He dealt with the unfamiliar surroundings and all of the extra people quite well most of the trip. He got off his schedule, didn’t eat or drink as much as usual (which shocked us), and also didn’t nap the greatest every day, but for the most part he handled the change just fine.

On Friday morning after breakfast, we headed down to introduce Riley to the beach for the first time. As I expected, he had no qualms about crawling around in the sand. And he truly is fearless: he crawled straight to the ocean and would have kept going into the waves if Kenny hadn’t grabbed him.

In no time at all Riley was covered in sand, thanks in part to his first face plant. He kept crawling back and forth between the dry sand and the water, all the while being uncharacteristically quiet and just getting familiar with the new sensations. And of course he had his first deliberate taste of sand as well, but luckily it happened right by the water, so Kenny was able to wash it out of his mouth quickly. Crazy kid.

Riley wasn’t the only one having some fun in the sun, sand, and surf, though….Molly, Nathan, and Jackson sure did enjoy their first full day at the beach as well!

Before we knew it, naptime rolled around and the three of us had to head back inside while the older kids got to stay and play with Karen and Miche. It really is a shame that Riley’s naps never coincided with the other kids’. Because of that, they didn’t get to spend nearly enough time playing together on the beach as we would have liked. They did have their fair share of playtime in the condo in the mornings, though, and I think Riley really enjoyed being around other kids.

  

After lunch we lotioned up again and went back out. It was just the three of us since Molly, Nathan and Jackson were taking their only naps of the day. We played in the sand for a little while but then decided to get into the water. We brought Riley’s little float from home, which worked great and helped to contain him. However, it did not prevent him from drinking the water….more than once!

 

We crossed paths with the rest of the crew, who was just coming back out, as we were going in. Once Riley was up from his second nap, it was too pretty to stay inside, so we took him back down to play in the sand a bit before dinner and bed.

Riley went down without any problems, the rest of us ate dinner, and then silliness ensued. Jeff and David were off golfing the whole first day, but they brought back a little surprise for the kiddos: a pack of fake, colored, “mood” mustaches. Needless to say, the ‘staches were a hit after dinner, not to mention the rest of the trip!

 

And that was just the first day! More vacation recap (including lots more pics!) coming up tomorrow.