First Beach Trip...

We recently made our first trip to the beach as a fam.  It was Riley's first ever, and first time for any of us in quite a while (not counting our honeymoon to St Lucia), so it was definitely nice to be back along the coast...any coast!  For this trip we had originally planned to go to Destin, FL.  However with the oil spill giving us second thoughts, we cancelled and then decided to go to Galveston instead.  Closer and cheaper, both of which are very good things in our book.   As luck would have it, a tropical storm warning was in effect for Destin while we were in Galveston, so in the end we definitely made the right call!  

 (In this picture, she is seeing her elephant...or "elphanant" as she called it.  What it really was was a gray plumbing tube under the sink...but to her it was an elephant's trunk...so she visited him often and said goodbye when we left)

The place we stayed was great.  Clear, close view of the beach and ocean, and plenty of room for all of us.  We will definitely be going back.

Our arrival day was not without its stress though.  We had originally planned to take her crib...yes the entire crib...due to A. Her not sleeping in a pack-n-play at night and B.  Crib rentals running $150 (the price we bought her first crib for).   However at the last minute (literally), plans changed and we decided to go with the crib rental after all.  Only problem was that the place we were referred to was out of cribs when we called the night before leaving.  So at 8:00am on the day we left, we found another rental location and lucked out.  

 Which one is Riley?  :)

Riley's first steps on the beach were uncertain for sure.  She was not quite sure what to think of all the sand and water in front of her.  One thing she did not like was the wet sand shifting under her feet as the waves rolled in and back out.   After a few minutes though she was ready to walk on the sand...the dry part...but even then she was stepping very cautiously and still was not sure what to think about it all.

 

The second day on the beach, and really all of them after that, was a mixture of her having fun at times and not so much at others.  Part of that was undoubtedly due to yet another ear infection she was just getting over.   When she wanted to be down (as in not being held by Mommy), she had a great time.  She got right down in the sand and got dirty, played with her shovel and bucket, and a few times even walked out into the water without us coaxing her to do so.  

 

I carried her out to the point where the water is waist deep on me so that she could have a better look at the fish which kept flying out of the water, and she really enjoyed that.  One thing we both enjoyed for a while was letting the waves crash on us.  Not that they were big waves, but they were enough to do the trick.   I would hold her back to the wave and try to catch it just as it was breaking so that it broke on us and splashed up.  She absolutely loved it.  

 

Another thing she loved was when Mommy had her down in the water and was letting the rolling waves which had not yet broken come past them.  We had to keep an eye out for jellyfish though, as one floated right past us at one point.  Definitely didn't need that experience.  :)

  

 (Playing with a friend she met)

One of the days we saw some horses on the beach, and she has never seen a live horse up-close.  We stood on the balcony and watched them for a while when it hit me that I should take her down to see them.  But of course as soon as we got ready to do it they horses left.  So much for that!  

 

One of the funniest things (to us at least) was her elevator experience.  Each time we took the elevator it was like she had done this a million times.  She'd stand and wait patiently for the doors to open, and when they did she'd hop in and then do the same until they opened again on the ground floor.  She had a blast in the pool as well.  In fact she probably had more fun there than on the beach.  The pool had quite a large wading area/first step that she could play on, and eventually she started leaping from that step into Mommy's arms. 

 (Waiting patiently)

 (Daddy...look!)

We made a trip to the aquarium at Moody Garden's on the next-to-last day and it was a pretty good time.  She was more into running around and seeing all of the other people there more than anything else, but she did enjoy it.  One of the best parts was watching a huge seal swimming circles around his tank.  Each time he came by the glass she would step back thinking he was coming at her.  

 

 

Toward the end, she found a room that was likely her version of Heaven:  a room filled with nothing but stairs.  It was an auditorium/viewing room for the largest part of the aquarium, so the seats were basically stadium seating.  I am pretty sure we could have spent hours in that one room and she would never have gotten tired of it.  But unfortunately (or was it?) we had to depart from this room and head back to the condo.

 

(Heaven on Earth)

 

 Yes...that's her.  She was having fun though  :)

Uncle Greg and Aunt Jenny came down with Maddie to see us on the last day there.  Of course Riley loved that.  She is crazy about her cousin Maddie, and babies in general...at least until Mommy starts to hold them, at which point the jealousy definitely kicks in.  Should be interesting in December!  But let's hope not.  We all went down to the beach for a little while but it was very hot, so we didn't get to spend too much time out with Maddie.  

On a personal note, I got to do something I had not done in a very long time (at least a decade):  Look for shark's teeth!  Probably not a big deal to most, but I grew up doing that with my Grandmother (and Mom and Dad too) at Myrtle Beach, so doing that always brings back memories for me...especially when I actually find some.  :)

 

So that's our first family vacation.  All in all it was a blast, and we hope to go back next year.  That's if the baby-not-yet-named is a better traveler than Riley was as an infant.  :)  If not, well then it might be 2012 before we're back...but let's hope not.   Too much fun!