Trials and tribulations of the beach ...

Family vacation number one. Well actually number two, but she was only 4 months old the first round. So in essence, family vacation number one.

So a little background for those of you that may be new. Madison is 13 months old {14 by time I got around to writing this}, walking and highly energetic. Highly. Energetic.

Challenge number one was getting to the beach. And timing became more of a challenge than we thought it would be. The night before she starting running low grade fevers and had a nasty cough. A good nights sleep was out of the question. Sigh.

Our plan was to wake around 7, like usual, breakfast, play, finish packing and leave around 10-11 when she usually goes down for her first nap. Ha. Plans. She woke at 5am because she couldn't stop coughing, we played and packed and then went to breakfast and before we knew it it was 7am and she wanted a nap. 7 am. Really?!?! Did I mention that check in wasn't until 4pm. Leaving at 7 would mean we had 9 hours to kill and a 4 hr drive.

So we managed to keep her up until 8 while we hectically packed and planned for caregivers for the cat. Moral of the story, pack the car the night before. Let me say that again: Pack the car the night before!

Loading her bag. 

I had also planned out all kinds of places to stop on the way assuming she would be awake most of the time. Including a 'Cement store' that is now apparently closed. Oops. Knowing that Madison's favorite place to play is Home Depot, I knew our stops didn't have to be fancy, and the ACE Hardware store made a perfect place to play and get out some wiggles. {She ended up sleeping for all but the last 30 mins of the drive.}

To entertain her for the last part of the drive I loaded her bag {the crochet one pictured} with toys. And handed her the whole bag. 2 mins occupied trying to get the item out of the bag, 5-10mins occupied with each item. 5 items can keep her busy for quite a while.

All in all the drive there was not nearly as stressful as I had anticipated, nor was the drive home. We left at bedtime, meaning she slept the entire ride, and I refused to stop and let my hubby pee. Sorry 'bout your luck. *Smile*

Our time at the beach was a bit more tricky. One thing I did learn was that with a small child, it's even more important than ever to choose your vaca-mates wisely. Especially if you would like to have a little mommy or daddy time, something mommy got very little of this trip.

Many of you wanted to know how she'd do at the beach, and to be quite honest I half expected a scared and clingy girl. After all think about it, if you were only 2 ft tall with the wind and the waves and all those loud sounds that we've grown to know as comforting (waves, seagulls, children screaming with delight), it's all a bit disorienting. Madison however, loved LOVED it all! The wind, the waves, the sand, the cold water {for a minute}, all of it.

Pause for a photo break *smile*

Tidal pools are AMAZING places to play. The warm clear water allows for
collecting shells and water play.

So surprised she kept her shades on.

Cold water ... really cold water. 

Building sand castles with the best of them. 

"Dad, where did my feet go?"

Logs, another source of entertainment, who knew?

Found a friend. 

So tips we learned with a 1 year old at the beach? 

1} Keep plans open. Nap times tend to be really unpredictable. Really. Unpredictable. She would sleep for 5 minutes some times and then hours others, at odd times. Late naps that at home would push back bedtime only made for an earlier bedtime. Let nothing surprize you.

2} Seek out new ways to make the beach less ... harsh. This idea from Pintrest was great on those days when the water was just too cold for comfort. Use a shower curtain {we chose clear to maintain the sand look, dumb I know} to line a hole in the sand a make a pool. A lot less work than taking a blow up pool. No one had to blow it up, only dig a little hole.

3} It does take a village. Like I said before, choose your vaca-mates carefully. In order for everyone to have a good time, you need help. Try to be sure your fellow vacationers have some of the same goals and ideas in mind as you do, it will make things a lot smoother.

4} INVEST IN A FULL LENGTH RASH GUARD. Yes I meant that in all caps. Sand gets everywhere, EVERYWHERE. I didn't purchase one because of the expense, but I wish I had of, and will be for all subsequent beach trips until ... well forever if I can help it.

5} Baby powder is a life saver. I was skeptical, I admit. It takes sand right off! No joke. Well actually it absorbs all the water from the sand that makes it sticky and it just brushes right off. This {and maybe only this} allowed us to continue cloth diapering at the beach without fear of never ending sand in the diapers.

Yea, that right, these crazy parents cloth diapered at the beach. Heck why not. Cheaper than swim diapers and there's no chlorine to mess them up. I say go for it. We did skimp on the inserts when we knew we were going right out the beach and back.

Although Mom and Dad were stressed out and burnt out at the end of the week, Madison had an amazing time at the beach, and in the end, that is all that matters.





I'll leave you with a little breastfeeding hooray. A little snack on the beach. {And no, I did not spend money on a nursing suit, I just found a 'strapless' that I added a strap too. Works just as well.}