Beach Baby!

Well, we just returned from our first family vacation! It would be a bold-faced lie to say we're happy to be home, with a new workweek looming just 8 hours away, a dishwasher to unload, laundry to tackle, carpet to vacuum, poop to scoop and bills to pay...

On Wednesday night, we packed my sister's Tahoe up with beach clothes, enough food, toys, and games for a long weekend. Thursday morning we dropped the dog off at Grandma's and headed southeast about six hours to Surfside Beach. We were a bit nervous about how Lyla would fare being in the car for so long, but she managed to shock us with a surprisingly painless trip. She cat-napped a few times, snacked, busied herself with toys and books, and of course, a couple Elmo videos. Just as we were reaching our limit, we arrived!

The weekend weather wasn't all that great, but even being inside from the chilly rain was relaxing - how can it not be with the gulf coast waves rolling in just over the dunes? We were fortunate enough to have a couple of afternoons in the mid to upper seventies - what we deemed "sitting on the beach" weather. The rest of the time, we took short walks and I, of course, experimented with the camera, all the while adoring my curious toddler as she explored all the wonders of the seashore. We collected some shells, traced letters in the sand, made sand "cakes" and sang "Happy Birthday" (then blew out the shell-candle and ate the cake, of course), poked at a dead jellyfish, filled the bucket with water, buried our feet and then tried to find them, got especially sandy, and all in all had a lovely, relaxing time.

Sunday, getting a little stir crazy from being stuck inside, we decided to take a little nap-time drive into Galveston to go to the Moody Gardens Aquarium. Being nap time, we thought our girl might actually sleep on the hour drive there, but she opted out, making for an interesting trip through the exhibits. She seemed a bit more interested in pushing her own stroller, climbing on each and every bench and hanging from any and every railing, than in watching fish through glass. The penguins caught her eye a bit more, and so did the one giant sea turtle that swam over us inside the water tunnel, but mostly she was just crabby and testing the limits. She took it upon herself to nap on the way home, instead.

Monday, we had to pack up and head back to life... back to reality (yes, it's been stuck in my head ALL DAY!). This time, the drive was a little less smooth, since our girl knew what she was in for, but we made it, thanks to Elmo and Shannon's fancy DVD-playing SUV.

It was a much needed vacation! I think we should do it every week. Well, maybe not every week...

More pics at Picasa, as usual!