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We walked from our hotel to the beach, and decided to walk towards the cruise ships. Saturday’s ships were leaving the port, and we all were excited to see the Oasis of the Seas depart, since that was our sister ship. Several ships had started their journey when we made it to the beach.

We walked a little ways along the beach.

We decided that we had walked far enough, and it didn’t seem like we were going to get much closer to the ships without walking more than we wanted. We stopped at a playground on the beach, and Maddie headed for the play structure. I took Cullen to the play structure, but I decided that it would be easier to let him explore the beach. So, we headed for the water.

He was a bit fearless at first.

We took off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pants. Cullen watched the waves for a while.

Jason and Maddie had been playing on the play structure, and they joined us a few minutes later. My mom joined us at the water as well. The rest of our group took a break and sat on a wall at the edge of the sand.

This is the first of many times on this trip that Jason tried to steal our kiddos. Here we are looking like a lovely family.

The kids watched the waves, and I tried to get photos in the light of the setting sun. Cullen kept falling down and getting his jeans wet and sandy. We didn’t have the best beach attire as we didn’t change our clothes after landing in Fort Lauderdale. It wasn’t too hot as the sun was setting.

The kids didn’t cooperate with my photoshoot too much. I snapped away, anyway.

The Fort Lauderdale beach was a little gross. We saw many cigarette butts and just random trash along the beach. Yuck! Obviously, I let my kiddos walk barefoot on the beach anyway.

I had to keep an eye on Jason. He tried to steal the kids again.

We were all very sandy after our visit to the beach. It was almost impossible to clean up all the sand on their feet, hands, and legs. While we were cleaning up the sand, Oasis finally left!

We were all excited to see how BIG the ship was compared to the others that we had seen leaving the port. Wow! We couldn’t believe that we would finally be getting on the Allure and departing in less than 24 hours! We pointed out features of the ship, the most obvious being the AquaTheatre on the back.

We walked back towards our hotel in search of a place to have our dinner. We found an interesting looking place that looked like a generic cafe type place called Oasis. We were sold on the tables and benches that were actually swings! The concept turned out to be quite a bit neater than the reality. They sat us at a giant table at first, but it was too big and literally between a road and the dumpsters in the back of the restaurant. We requested a different table, and that one was a tad small for our party of 9. We managed. The table was a little far from the benches, so that was tricky with the kids.

I had a chicken quesadilla, and I thought it was decent. Apparently, Jason and Melissa had ordered the same thing and theirs barely had any chicken at all. Everyone else declared that their meal was mediocre to bad. On top of the mediocre food, it was overpriced. Strike three for meals on that day! Thank goodness the majority of the meals for the next 7 days would be on the cruise ship!

After our mediocre meal, we headed to the boat parade. Gabe’s mom headed back to the room to watch Kentucky suffer their first loss in basketball for the season. We had heard conflicting reports on the best place to stand to view the parade, and one of our recommendations was into a private, restricted area. We were denied entry, so we headed with the masses of people to the drawbridge.

It was difficult to take photos during the boat parade as we had several palm trees between us and the boats, and there were a lot of people on the bridge. Maddie could see the boats from her stroller, and we didn’t want the kids running around on the drawbridge. Cullen was a little lower in his stroller, and he couldn’t see a thing. I took him out of the stroller and held him for the majority of the time that we were watching the parade.

This was the 40th Winterfest Boat Parade (I learned that from one of the first floats). I thought that it was pretty neat. Some boats had fireworks! Other boats were blasting music and making announcements.

Cullen loved watching the “kissmiss lights!!!!” and seeing the boats and hearing them blast their boat horns. “The boat says ‘toot toot!’” We danced on the bridge to the music. He loved it…until he got a bit tired and cranky. We put him in the stroller after a little while, he fell fast asleep. Cullen did pretty well considering that he never had a chance to nap during the day, since we had checked into the room so late.

By that time, the parade had lost Maddie’s attention as well, and she was playing Monkey Lunchbox on the iPhone. The boat parade was very neat, but I must say that it moves a lot slower than a normal parade. It was difficult to see everything, and it didn’t keep the kids’ attention for too long.

The vantage point on the bridge was not far from the hotel, and we headed back at 8pm. All of us were exhausted! It seemed much, much later than 8pm. Cullen woke up briefly to get into his jammies and for a quick bedtime story. Neither kid put up much of a fight at bedtime!

Our favorites from the day:
Gabe: easy flight with the kids
Kerry: easy flight with the kids, playing on the beach, and seeing the boat parade
Maddie (according to her): seeing the boats in the parade and putting her feet in the water at the beach
Cullen (my guess): putting his feet in the water at the beach and seeing the boats with Mommy

As usual, I took a ton of notes on our cruise vacation. Thank goodness, or there’s no way that I would be able to remember the details. I like remembering the details and writing up our trip reports (and creating the photobook).

We started packing for this trip about a week before our departure. Since we were headed for warm weather, we didn’t have to worry about whether we were going to need to wear the clothes we wanted to pack. We also had to make sure we had enough clothing for the kids as they have both outgrown some of their summer clothes. Maddie seemed to enjoy putting on a fashion show, but Cullen was less than thrilled. Cullen had barely enough clothes for the trip.

We wanted to have only 3 checked bags both from a standpoint of being able to manage the kids and our luggage and to help out Jason and Melissa. We flew JetBlue, so each of us had a “free” checked bag. We shuffled around our clothes several times. I ended up going to Kohl’s late on Thursday night to buy a new suitcase. I bought a giant suitcase, but we took it back on Friday as we determined that we wouldn’t even be able to take full advantage of its size without hitting the 50 pound weight limit. We ended up taking it back and buying two 25″ suitcases which ended up getting close to the weight limit as it was. It didn’t look like *that* much when we loaded it in the car.

Melissa and Jason were on the same flight as us, so we arranged to meet them at the park and ride. Shockingly, we were on time. I was impressed that we could get everyone ready and out the door. Thank goodness that Melissa and Jason were with us as they were a huge help in getting our bags from one place to another, getting checked in, and getting the kids on the plane.

We had a little time to get breakfast and Starbucks coffee (mmmmm, Gingerbread Latte!). We grabbed a giant muffin for the kids and breakfast biscuits for everyone else. This was our first strike of the day for our meals. Of course, one shouldn’t expect all that much from airport food, so we weren’t surprised. Our plane boarded pretty much on time, and we were able to board early in the process since we had small children.

This is one of Maddie’s faces that I get when I ask Maddie to smile these days.

We were nervous about how the flight might go, especially since this was Cullen’s first flight. This was also the first time that we have flown without car seats. I was worried about whether either kid would stay seated without their car seat restraints. Cullen brushed up on the safety protocols.

Each seat back on JetBlue has a TV screen, but the kids didn’t like having on headphones for more than a second. The shows didn’t hold their attention without sound.

The seats were four across, so we took up a row. It was nice not to have anybody else next to us. Melissa and Jason were sitting in the row behind us. I was concerned that they were going to regret it, but the kids were great on the flight. Cullen got upset in the last 15 minutes. I think that his ears were hurting him, so I can’t really blame him. Gabe had been sitting next to him, and we switched for the last 10-15 minutes so that I could distract him and read him Mister Men and Little Miss stories.

Maddie and I worked on crafts for the majority of the flight. She made things for everyone to hang on their doors on the cruise ship. They turned out cute!

Cullen was distracted by dinosaur figures, complimentary iced animal crackers, the iPhone in his new Apptivity case, and books. Snack time on the plane distracted Maddie for a little while, too. She also opted for the iced animal crackers.

We were happy to land safely in Fort Lauderdale where we were greeted by the Fort Lauderdale Barbershop Harmony Chorus singing Christmas carols. I thought that the kids would get excited about hearing familiar tunes, the same tunes they have both been running around the house singing. They just stared blankly at the men. I thought it was great, and it really made me feel like Christmas was just around the corner. Considering that we have had mild temperatures at home and Fort Lauderdale was even warmer, it didn’t feel like Christmas in general.

The car service gave us a call, and we let them know that we were waiting for our luggage. We found out that Gabe’s parents had just landed as well, so we asked if they had enough space for two more. We had plenty of space in the shuttle.

Unfortunately, despite having reiterated several times on the phone that we need TWO 5-point harness regular car seats, they only had one car seat and a booster. I was a little annoyed that the driver insisted that everything will be fine because it was a short trip and he would drive carefully. They assured us that we would have two regular car seats for the rest of the legs (we had prearranged the same transportation to take us between the airport, hotel, and port so that we didn’t have to bring the bulky car seats). We put Maddie in the booster in one of the middle rows in the van. It was fine, but she’s definitely much safer in a regular car seat given her little size. I know that some of the shuttles without seat belts are more questionable than a booster that doesn’t quite fit…but when I have a choice, I choose the safest option.

We got to the hotel, the Courtyard Marriot Fort Lauderdale Beach, and everyone but us checked into their rooms. We dumped our luggage and went for a walk in search of somewhere along the beach to eat. We settled on Cafe Del Mar, an open air restaurant/bar with a beach view and a live guitar doing a crazy mix of cover songs.

The only notable thing about Cafe Del Mar was the giant margaritas which were 2-for-1. Melissa and Jason gave them a try, and Gabe and his parents shared a couple buckets of beer.

Our view wasn’t too shabby. The food was pretty bad. Strike two for our meals for the day.

While we were dining, my parents arrived at the hotel. We headed back to the hotel to see if we could check into our room, but it still wasn’t ready. We spent a few minutes in my parents’ room to give them a little more time. The kids think that playing in hotel beds is great fun. They went crazy, and we took some incredibly bad, blurry photos.

We all had nice views, though Melissa and Jason’s room was a king suite on a lower floor. From my parents’ room, they could see the intracoastal waterway where the boat parade would be held later that night. From our room, we could see the beach, cruise ships, and a little bit of the intracoastal waterway. Mick wanted a beach view.

We finally were able to check into our room. We had a nice King Suite with a pack-n-play for Cullen and a sleeper sofa for Maddie. The sleeper sofa has been working out pretty well for Maddie. I like that it is lower to the ground and fairly wide. She seems to stay in the middle pretty well.

After we checked into the hotel, we decided to head to the beach so that we could watch the cruise ships depart.

Stay tuned for the rest of Day 0…

I wrote this on Maddie’s half birthday (August 20th), but I couldn’t get my photos organized until now. It’s been a crazy week. I finally sorted through the photos, and it’s time for another letter to Maddie! (more…)

Wow. I thought time passed quickly with Maddie, but it’s just crazy now with the two kids. I can’t believe that my sweet baby boy is already 6 months old. He’ll be in college before I can blink. This must mean that it’s time for another letter to Cullen. (more…)

This is part two of our recent trip to the beach. I posted details and photos of Maddie’s experiences and now it’s time for Cullen’s story.

Cullen is almost 6 months old, so he’s at an age where it is pretty easy to take him places without complaint. As long as he’s fed, has had enough sleep, hasn’t been forced to spend too much time in the car, and has his mommy nearby, he’s a happy boy.

As I mentioned in Maddie’s post, we headed to the beach on Saturday morning. I was concerned about the kids getting too much sun. In addition to lathering them with sunscreen, we borrowed a cabana for some extra shade. Lugging the cabana, 3 adult chairs, a kid chair, a beach blanket, water bottles, snacks, sunscreen, 5 towels, cameras, and 2 small children to the beach was no small feat for 3 adults. In the end, it seemed like much more trouble than it was worth (especially considering that I got only a few decent photos, most of which were taken with my iPhone).

Once we figured out how to set up the cabana, some beach patrol dude came by to inform us that we were welcome to use the tent but that we needed to have it at waist height (um, whose waist?). It took some finagling to flatten it to the approved height. At this point, we’re already frustrated because the tent looks unusable and we realized that we had it backwards. So while Gabe and his mom turned the tent around, I managed to wrangle the two kiddos. The beach started out to be quite a bit of trouble.

The good news is that Cullen liked it! It’s rare for us to lay him down and then have him fall asleep, but that is precisely what he did. The comfort of the beach blanket on the sand plus the added darkening effect of the cabana shade and sunglasses only added to the lull of the waves. Add to all this a tired little boy and a pacifier, and you’ve got a recipe for a fabulous nap!

After he woke up from his nap, I was happy to have the privacy of the flattened tent so that I could feed him without exposing myself to the world. This was a big plus!

I tried to keep Cullen from the sand, but he still managed to get little bits of sand all over himself. It’s just impossible to avoid getting sticky bits of sand everywhere. I tried to keep him wholly on the blanket, but a little foot kept slipping onto the sand. Oh well, it eventually all washed off of him at the pool, and he didn’t seem to mind. I just didn’t think that his soft, sensitive baby skin needed any exfoliating.

Cullen enjoyed the pool in his newly borrowed suit and rasher guard. He looked adorable in his beach/pool digs. He gave us many smiles while we played in the kiddie pool.

Cullen was awake most of the time while Maddie took her marathon nap, but he was ready for a good nap by the time she woke up. Fortunately for him, we brought the Ergo and he comfortably was strapped to Mommy for the walk to dinner and slept throughout the majority of our dinner. I had to contort myself in weird positions to avoid dropping food on him, but it sure was nice to eat a meal without a wiggly baby trying to grab at everything.

He woke up and gave out smiles to other restaurant patrons and waiters. He spent a little bit of time outside of the carrier before it was time to take our stroll on the beach. Once again, he was comfortably strapped to Mommy.

He developed quite the attachment to Mommy this weekend. He certainly has preferred me in the past and even demanded me to hold him above all others, but he took his Mommy attachment to new levels. It’s very sweet, and I’m loving the extra cuddles and special smiles. I love how when I take him into my arms, he looks around and grins at anyone who will look at him and then buries his head into my shoulders. He’s clearly saying, “Look! I have my Mommy! I got what I wanted! My Mommy is the best! She’s right here, look! I got my Mommy, I got my Mommy!” It’s adorable.

Aside from refusing to sleep in the co-sleeper (which is a pain to pack up and tote on a trip) and a few rough moments in the car, Cullen had a great weekend. I’m not sure when he will be visiting the beach again, but I’d say it was a successful first trip for him!

Stay tuned for more posts about our beach weekend…

This is part one of our trip report from the beach trip this past weekend. I thought I’d do a post about Maddie’s experiences and then one about Cullen’s (which is likely to be much shorter). I’ll do a separate post about the aquarium.

Maddie’s first trip to the beach was over a year ago when we went to Bermuda. She did not care for it at all then. We thought that bringing a stroller on the beach was a bit crazy (but where else were we going to put it?). It ended up being a very good thing as all she wanted to do was ride in the stroller where she was nice and safe.

We had not visited the beach since that trip until this past weekend. Maddie talked about the beach quite a bit before we went. She seemed excited. We told her it was like a big sandbox and that we were going to build sandcastles. She talked all week about how she was going to go to the beach with Grandma. She was excited about her new water shoes. She couldn’t wait to try her new beach toys.

We lugged all the stuff out to the beach on Saturday morning, and she seemed to like it at first. She had fun building sandcastles. After a while, she wasn’t enjoying it. She was scared of the unpredictable waves that kept getting closer and closer. She did not like how the sand was everywhere and she couldn’t seem to brush it off. She firmly declared, “I don’t like the beach.” She was ready to leave.

We headed to the pool next, and she was so much happier. I was very disappointed with the photos that I was able to take. My good camera was all fogged up with the heat and humidity. I was upset about this! I wish I had gotten better pictures at the pool, too. Maddie was thrilled with the pool! She loved it so much. She said very clearly, “I don’t like the beach. I like the pool.” The kiddie pool was great. It was only about 18 inches deep and had all kinds of fountains and buckets dropping water and such.

After the beach, pool, and a casual poolside lunch, we headed back for a nap. She must have worn herself out with all the fun and sun because she slept for over 3 hours! When she woke up, she looked out the window and saw the beach. After a surprised gasp, she exclaimed, “There’s the beach I like!!!” She didn’t quite get that the beach that she saw from afar and the beach we visited earlier in the day were one and the same. Too funny.

We had promised she could go back to the pool after nap, but once she woke up it was time to go to dinner. Maddie ate a great dinner and was fascinated when the waiter prepared bananas foster table side. “Nanas in there! The nanas are on fire!”

After dinner, we took a nice stroll on the beach. That was wonderful! Maddie loved looking for shells. Since one of her favorite pastimes at school is to look for rocks (and often store them in her pockets), this was right up her alley. She had quite a collection of shells in her pockets! (Gabe said that he didn’t think this is what Rage Against the Machine was singing about).

Since we promised Maddie a trip back to the pool, we went to the pool after our stroll on the beach despite it being past her bedtime! Since we only had one full day at the resort (and a full day it was), we wanted to make the best of it. She was unsure about the pool at first, but after a while she was having a blast. I think she would have stayed there all night if we had let her.

I’m not sure we will be visiting the beach again in the near future, but overall we had a successful weekend! Stay tuned for Cullen’s post and a few notes about the aquarium visit on the next day!

Another weekend trip, another late Sunday Somethings. Oh well. Maybe I should just call them, “The Sometime Somethings?”

Something that makes me happy: Good photos.

Something I’m thinking: I don’t think I got many good photos from this past weekend’s beach trip.

Something I’m hoping: Shall I continue the theme? I hope that I am mistaken and I find some hidden gems on my cameras from the weekend.

Something happening around the house: The cleaners came on Friday, and then we went out of town for the weekend. You’d think that would mean our house would still be nice and clean, but you’d be wrong.

Something I’m reading: Um. I don’t know if I managed to read any of Little Earthquakes this week, but I probably read Snow White about 20 times.

Something I’m watching: More Supernatural. Some of the episodes really freak me out, like the Bloody Mary episode based on that bathroom mirror thing that little girls like to scare each other with at slumber parties. Yeah. Because of that legend, I have always been afraid of mirrors in the dark. That episode DID NOT HELP.

Something I’m playing: More Words with Friends. We got Gabe’s mom to join us this weekend.

Something tasty: Ooh, I had some apple pie at an actual restaurant that was completely dairy free. It’s rare to have a dairy free dessert!

Something Maddie is doing (28 months old): Maddie had a great time with her grandma this weekend. Her second trip to the beach went only slightly better than the first. She didn’t care for the waves or the sand. She did have a little fun building sandcastles before deciding she did not like “the beach.” She was very excited about the swimming pool and had a great time there. She also had fun looking for seashells on an evening stroll on the beach (as long as we were far from the water).

Something Cullen is doing (25 weeks old): Cullen had his first experience with the beach! He didn’t seem to mind it at all and thought that it was a fabulous place for a nap (in the shade of the cabana on the beach blanket). I think the sound of the waves lulled him to sleep. He has officially entered the Mommy stage. It’s really sweet, but it’s also demanding! At certain times, he wants to only be held by me, especially if he hears or sees (or smells) me. I remember Maddie when she was in this stage. I do love the cuddles and the fact that he loves me more than anybody else! It does feel pretty good to be so well loved.

Something I am struggling with: I struggled with taking photos this weekend. My SLR’s lenses kept fogging up and I was concerned that I was doing damage to my camera. I didn’t get the photos that I had hoped to get when we took our excursion to the beach. I was quite disappointed!

Something I learned: Wheat Thins no longer have high fructose corn syrup…well, at least some varieties of Wheat Thins. This is good news for us since we have been trying not to buy products with hfcs for a while.

Something I’m looking forward to: We have some dinners with friends and some pool time this week.

Something random: I think anyone who serves raw chicken in Hell’s Kitchen should automatically be sent home! Seriously!

Something captured: My awesome family on the beach after dinner on Saturday night.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Planning (and going on) vacations makes me happy!

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking about getting some of those new designer diapers from Pampers. I saw them in Target the other day, and I was tempted!

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to take better photos of Cullen than I have been taking lately. I’ve been lazy and many days the only photo I have taken has been on the iPhone. The iPhone’s photos aren’t as good as the small camera (and definitely not as good as the SLR, obviously).

Something happening around the house: We had our friend Shannon watch the kids on Friday so that we could go to a dinner and a movie. It was strange being out of the house together without the kids. This was the first time since Cullen was born that we managed to do it. The next time will probably be for the Jack Johnson concert next month.

Something I’m reading: I started reading Little Earthquakes, the revised book club book for July. I don’t know if I will be able to finish it in time or not. I have plenty of time, theoretically. I just haven’t made much time for reading lately.

Something I’m watching: I was sad that Babies left the theaters before I could see it. Darn! Guess I will have to netflix it. I did manage to see Eclipse and Toy Story 3 in the theater. Wow, I can’t believe I saw two movies in one week! We also watched the first few episodes of Supernatural which is a bit creepy so far.

Something I’m playing: Gabe and I have been playing a lot of Words with Friends and iAssociate on our iPhones!

Something tasty: We had dinner at Lucky 32 Friday night for the first time in a while.

Something Maddie is doing (28 months old): She was doing great with potty training, but we had a couple of setbacks this weekend. Yesterday, she had a tiny accident while playing with a buddy. She wet herself a little and stopped herself and did the rest of the potty. But then after bath, she peed on the floor before getting her clothes on and announced happily that she had done so. Nice. She did the same thing again this morning, so I’m not sure what’s going on with her. We aren’t making a big deal of it and tell her that “peepee belongs in the potty.” Maybe she’s just trying to get attention. She had no other accidents this week, not even at night. I can’t believe how few nighttime accidents that we have had so far (only a couple in that first week). In other Maddie news, she continues to love singing songs. She loves her baby brother. She is very much into doing everything herself from climbing into her high chair or car seat to pouring her own drinks to dressing herself. She refuses to let us dress her and has to do it ALL by herself. She’s pretty good at it, but she’s not always the fastest dresser. Parenting a toddler takes a lot of patience!

Something Cullen is doing (24 weeks old): He started sleeping on his belly this week. I think that he’s more comfortable. He hasn’t miraculously slept through the night or anything, but I think we’ve been able to get him to sleep a little longer in the bassinet sometimes. Maybe. He still spends most of the night in the bed (NOT on his belly). Cullen gets compliments on his smile and his blue eyes everywhere he goes. He has a great smile. He’s so pleasant to be around (most of the time!). He loves his jumperoo. He seemed to be rolling over with more purpose this week. It seemed like he was rolling to reach things and for movement. He is good at spinning around on his belly when he’s playing on the floor. He explores everything by putting it in his mouth. He drools excessively. He’s wearing 9 month sized clothing (and has been for a little while). He’s getting close to being able to sit on his own.

Something I am struggling with: Keeping up with photos. Now that the first half of the year has passed, I had hoped to start on “volume 1″ of our photobook for 2010. I still need to organize quite a few photos from the first half of the year (including getting them on the website…I am still in April for those).

Something I learned: I learned that the front camera on my iPhone does not have as good resolution as the regular camera. Oh well, it’s still useful!

Something I’m looking forward to: Gabe’s mom is visiting soon, and we’re going to go to the beach for a couple days.

Something captured: My kiddos. They were both amused to see themselves on the iPhone while I took this photo with the front facing camera. Maddie had been singing “Where is Thumbkin” to Cullen, hence the sock puppets.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

I have so many photos to share from this day that I thought it best to break it into several posts.

The room service on the first day was decent, but we definitely prefer the breakfast in the dining room over all options. We started our day in the dining room where I ordered way more than any human should order for breakfast. I couldn’t help myself…I wanted pancakes, eggs, bacon, AND the fabulous oatmeal. I didn’t get a chance to eat everything, but that was because we were trying to make the next bus to Horseshoe Bay and the service was ridiculously slow.

We exited the ship and noticed that a pink bus was at the stop, so we hustled to catch the bus. We got there, and we thought we were in luck as they had just enough seats for us (and it was the right bus). Unfortunately, remember those passes that I said everyone else had yesterday and we didn’t? Well, it turns out that the ferry will accept them, but the busses will not. They suggested that we might be able to get them in the visitor center, but by the time I stood in line at the visitor center, the bus was gone. They informed us that the only place that we could redeem our ship’s passes for real passes was back at the ship. UGH! It wasn’t terribly far away, but it was a good distance. Gabe stayed near the bus stop with Maddie while I ran around trying to get our passes. So, I started the day off with quite a bit of walking! Oh well, I guess I needed to work off all that cruise food, right?

We were upset about the bus passes because the schedule indicated that the buses only come every 30 minutes. Apparently, they arrange for some special buses while the cruise ships are in port, and another one arrived not too long after the first one.

When I finally came back with the proper passes, another bus was waiting and they had just enough seats for us again. This time, we were able to board. It was a bit tricky with the stroller (they had a tiny area to stow the stroller), two backpacks (one for the “stuff” we needed in port for Maddie, one for the big camera), and a squirmy 15-month old!

The bus ride to Horseshoe Bay Beach was not too bad. We had hopped onto a special bus that was mostly taking passengers to the beach, so it made only a few other stops. It didn’t seem to take too long to get to the beach, and Maddie was content to sit on my lap and look out the window at all the water and colorful houses. The scenery was very pretty! It’s so striking how narrow Bermuda is in most places (and let’s not forget that it is a series of little islands, not just one island). We could often see the beautiful ocean on both sides of the bus. During this trek, we traveled over the smallest drawbridge in the world, Somerset Bridge.

We arrived at the beach and had to walk down a fairly steep hill to get to the actual beach from the bus stop, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had heard from numerous reports on Cruise Critic. Everyone had recommended paying the taxi $1-2 to ride up the hill, but I’m not sure it’s necessary in most cases. It’s not THAT bad.

When we got to the sandy area with changing rooms and rentals, we stopped to take off our shoes and apply generous amounts of sunscreen. Gabe and I had a little sunburn from St. George’s since we neglected to lather ourselves as much as we had lathered the baby. Maddie smiled and wiggled her toes when we put her in the sand. We thought this was going to go very well!

Getting the stroller from the road to the beach was a bit of a challenge. As you can imagine, it doesn’t roll well through the soft sand. And the sand was so very soft. I loved how it felt on my bare feet! The stroller was much easier to push once we got closer to the water.

Right away, Maddie seemed to hate it. I think that the waves were too loud and scary for her. I can see how that might be a little frightening if you’re seeing it for the first time. We had all kinds of hopes of getting some beautiful family photos, but it was clear that this was not going to happen. She was somewhat content to be held but only when combined with the pacifier. She was most happy when she was in the stroller. I cannot emphasize how much she loves her new stroller. We are very happy with it!

I love the following photo. It’s not the family photo that I had envisioned, but it is truly priceless. This sums up Maddie’s thoughts on the beach better than I ever could in words.

We had to dip her toes into the water once since this was her first encounter with an ocean, but she was not a fan. It was a very quick dip.

We wanted to explore all the rock formations along the side of the beach, which proved to be a little tricky in places with the stroller. We could get through most parts without any climbing, but one place required picking up the stroller to get over a few rocks. It wasn’t too bad, and it was worth the view (and no, it wasn’t dangerous, just awkward). We used the Gorillapod on the rocks to snap a few shots of the two of us since Maddie didn’t want to cooperate for photos.

Maddie was very content in the stroller, and I got a kick out of taking photos of her “fun in the sun.” Does life get any better?

After we strolled around a bit, Maddie fell asleep in the stroller. We made the trek up the hill instead of paying the taxis, and it wasn’t too terrible. We didn’t want to disrupt Maddie’s nap, that’s for sure! We were the only ones getting on the bus at the stop, and we were going a very short distance to the lighthouse. The bus driver was kind enough to let us carry Maddie onto the bus while still snoozing in her stroller. Very convenient! We just made sure to put on the brakes and keep a good grip on the stroller for our short ride. More about the rest of the day in the next two posts…

Added Melissa’s Birthday Weekend photos. Melissa and Jason rented a beach house in Edisto for a week for her 30th birthday. Gabe and I joined them for the weekend. Updated trip report coming soon.