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.
Added Melissa’s Birthday Weekend upcoming trip report.
Added temporary videos to the trip report for Shore Vacation with Andrew and Brooke. These videos take up a bit of space, so they will only be available for a limited amount of time!