Labor Day

September 4, 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve posted and that’s due to a lot of things…1) I need to be in the mood to write 2) I’ve been super busy and 3) while I could whip up a blog post, if I’m not “feeling it” or feeling in the mood to let my words flow without it seeming like work, I just don’t do it. I’ve got lots of things I want to write about but when the mood strikes, I just stop everything else and start typing…(sorry laundry).

Last week, Rob and I had the brilliant idea to go to the beach on Labor Day weekend, not on Labor Day b/c that’s just crazy talk, but on Sunday…you know, to beat the crowds. I laugh just writing that. I mean, I knew it would be busy, but I guess I’ve never gone to the beach during Labor Day weekend b/c it was jam packed!

This was really our first outing that required so much packing and planning. We borrowed a tent from our lovely friends Dan and Rebekah, packed a lunch, and it was a darn good lunch too…sandwiches, watermelon, berries, it was special people. Plus, I got special baby SPF 50 sunscreen (let’s block the UVA and UVB rays, and get the super thick kind that you have to work in like you’re waxing a car). I was so excited, hopeful and freaked out for our first trip to the beach.

During the hour or so drive, we anticipated that Reagan would give us her usual hour or hour and a half nap, we left at the perfect time for it to happen, but, she only slept for 20 minutes. This will be…interesting…

As we drove on the beach, we kept going and going trying to find a parking spot, while a little miss fussy pants began to brew in the back seat.

After we parked, Rob took the tent out and I’m all “is this going to be difficult? I don’t know how to do this, it’s hot…” But, Rob is seriously a master at figuring out how to do things, put them together, fix them, etc…if it were me, I’d just buy an umbrella that would probably keep flying away so that I’d constantly need to re-dig a hole. But Rob, he reads directions, and has skills and patience and such, he’s the opposite of me. So he patiently figured out what to do, used his muscles and his brain and kept telling me to “hold this down, push this up, put that there,” and I obliged b/c I don’t know what’s going on, only that it will get done right and faster if I listen to him. It took about 15-20 minutes (which to me seems like an eternity b/c I’m not patient, remember)…but voila! We had a tent!

Instead of feeding Reagan under the tent, I fed her in the AC’d car while Rob got us all set up with our towels, her toys and our lunch. Everything was going great, we had our happy girl, she was excited to be outside and we were just flying by the seat of our pants.

We had goals before we went to the beach and they were to 1) get there 2) get some pictures and 3) get ice cream. See, when you have attainable goals, you can succeed. Rob is the goal setter which just means he’s trying to give his wife with freak out tendencies reasonable things to expect. I shouldn’t expect that Reagan will love every moment of this new and terrifying experience.

So, we got there, CHECK!

Side story…I met a gal who also had her 6 month baby there…it was not her baby’s first trip, nope. They’ve been coming to the beach since the baby was 4 days old and it looked like they had the beach deal down pat…and she also had the body of Jillian Michaels, she looked fantastic. I was super grateful for her taking our first family beach photo. She was so nice, even though she looked like a super model. After talking with her and staring at her abs, I decided to go back and eat my big turkey sandwich on ciabatta bread and contemplate how many sit ups I’d need to do to have her rock hard abs.

Jillian Michaels

So after goal one of getting to the beach was achieved, we decided to get some pictures of Reagan while she was awake and still happy.

This is the first photo, we've got a tired one on our hands...

This is the first photo, we’ve got a tired one on our hands…

Reagan and Daddy

Reagan and Daddy

Reagan and mommy 2

See our big tent?! It was up and down before you could say “labor day weekend beach day.”

Reagan and mommy

Reagan and mommy

Feet in the sand and water for the first time!

Feet in the sand and water for the first time! What IS THIS?

Reagan splash 2

The water is moving! It's splashing me!!!

The water is moving! It’s splashing me!!!

Not a fan of the splashing water...

Not a fan of the splashing water…

Reagan and Daddy in ocean

Since I don’t like the splashing water…maybe I’ll like standing right in the ocean.

Nope!

Nope!

Close up of Reagan's pure terror.

Close up of Reagan’s pure terror.

Even though Reagan cried for about 30 minutes straight after this point and I felt bad for the folks around us since we really couldn’t calm her down, it was such a great day. It’s so fun to watch your baby experience things for the first time. She doesn’t know what the beach is or why it’s so bright, so watery and sandy, or what the heck is happening, but she’s with her parents and it will be OK…and we’ll keep taking her to the beach so that she knows, it’s OK. (You gotta like the beach Ray Ray…it’s kinda where we vacation).

And the body builder was kind enough to take this photo of us to capture our first family beach day. I’m so glad abs was there and demanded the camera out of my hands…I sucked in as much as I could to make the photo nice. I’ll try to do better next time, Jillian.

First family beach trip!

First family beach trip!

ice cream obtained. goals met. sorry jillian michaels, but i'm not sorry about this...it's FROZEN GOLD!

ice cream obtained. goals met. sorry jillian michaels, but i’m not sorry about this…it’s FROZEN GOLD!

 

comments +

  1. Christine Miller Thurston

    September 4th, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    So sweet! So proud and happy for you both! Baby steps at the beach, all goals attained and FROZEN GOLD = Perfect Day!! God Bless 🙂

  2. Sandra Esfahsni

    September 4th, 2013 at 10:31 pm

    You did it and will savor the memories always! Good for you!!!

  3. Debbie Parrish

    September 4th, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    As always, love reading about your family. There will be many more adventures and making of beautiful memories.

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