Beach Vacation

Hello friends. I'm still here - it has just been very busy lately. I know the rest of you have busy lives as well, so I can't really use that as an excuse for not blogging. I have enjoyed reading all your posts, I just haven't gotten around to it myself. The longer I wait, the more there is to write so I'm jumping in now before I have no hope of getting caught up.

Lydia recently began noticing jewelry. She now has a few of her own "neckaces" that she dons daily.



We had a really nice time spending a few days in Hilton Head with Josh, Liz and Kate. The condo had great views to the ocean and the layout of bedrooms suited our needs perfectly. It was a relaxing time and as Liz has already noted, there are definite changes that accompany vacationing with little ones. Naptime and meal times were the things that really determined our schedule with Lydia.It just isn't possible to bask in the sun on the beach all day or be gone from your lodgings for hours on end, or to skip lunch or have a late dinner. We also didn't get in any long walks on the beach. As my father-in-law noted earlier this year, walking with a toddler is not so much about the destination as it is the journey. Once she got over her fear of the sand, water and waves, Lydia really enjoyed the beach and ocean. I was totally surprised that she was not interested at all interested in the shells or anything else that had washed up onto the beach.
Being pregnant also changed my MO a bit. I lathered myself with sunscreen every day (I even used Lydia's spf50 after I burned in a few spots the first day!!!) and I had to have a chair no matter whereI was stationed. No sunning on the beach towel for me! It was nice to get the chance to stretch out on my stomach again for the first time in a while. I dug a little hole in the sand and got cozy for a short time. We also bought a beach umbrella which I really wouldn't have considered except for Lydia... but as it turned out I probably used that shade way more than she did! It was so nice just to "get away" and have Ben around and spending time with us all day. We read more than is ever possible at home and made daily trips to the beach and the pool.

Any doubts as to where we had lunch on our way there?

That is another change in traveling with a young child. They need to get out of their carseats and let out some energy at regular intervals. We broke the trip into two segments by stopping for lunch after about 3 hours on the road. Then as hoped, she fell asleep for a good portion of the final leg of the trip and woke just as we were nearing Hilton Head. (I thought we were in trouble for sure when she had played with all of her little toys, already done some drawing and then started asking for lunch at 10:30!!)
She says "I get out?" when she wants to get out of the carseat. We heard that alot during the trip. Also "Here! da beach. We're here!" - we heard this for the first time the morning we left when we pulled into J and L's subdivision which is a 5 minute drive from our house!





Although I don't have any pictures of her pool play time, Lydia loved the pool. I'm confident she will thorougly enjoy Mema and Papa's new pool that was just finished.
Lydia loved going into J and L's room to "see Kate!". She also loved the doorknobs at the condo because they were that lever kind and she could open doors at will. No one was guaranteed any privacy unless the door was locked!She liked posing with Kate and wanted to hold her after a few shots. Of course when she is done, she practically shoves Kate aside and moves on to her other activities.

Riding on the luggage cart was lots of fun.

Sleeping with her faithful friend on the way home.

Ok this is enough for now =)