The weekend before last, Doc and I loaded up Katie Wynn and joined my parents for a very quick trip to the beach house. It was what I like to call a "maintenance trip." We had lots of things to do around the house - mostly pulling weeds and minor repairs - but the biggest thing we wanted to accomplish was getting furniture for the upstairs balcony. That was one thing we had never finished last summer so we really need to get it done. This was the first time we've traveled so long in the car with Katie Wynn since she was a newborn (and sleeping all the time). I was not sure how it was going to go. Overall, I'd say it wasn't perfect, but it was much, much better than it could have been. She did pretty well. We rented a minivan so that we could all comfortably ride together so that meant both me and Mom were in positions to entertain her. And entertain her we did!
I managed to make her favorite monkey ("Orange Monkey") balance up on the back of her seat and she thought it was hilarious!
When the appeal of Orange Monkey (and a gazillion other toys) wore off, we started feeding her puffs. Feeding herself still takes a pretty good amount of concentration, so it keeps her occupied and wears her out.
It also produces lots of bubbles and sticky fingers.
As soon as we made it to town, Mom and I left KW with the boys and headed out to run errands. We wanted to get most of our necessary shopping done as quickly as possible so we'd have at least a day to relax and enjoy ourselves. One of the things we picked up at Target was an umbrella stroller which was wonderful to have while we were in town. We put it right to use when we got home. The guys were starving so we walked to the Mexican restaurant that's just a block away from the house.
We had a little bit of a wait so we killed some time by the splash pad fountains.
I got her out of her stroller to see if she'd like the water but I'm not sure that she was feelin' it.
I put her hand in one of the sprays of water.
Not too excited about a spray of water in the face!
Pocket tee times three.
We were getting closer to our time to eat so we wandered in to wait.
Apparently we weren't entertaining enough for Katie bug. She needed to see what everyone else in the restaurant was doing.
Then we got a table and ate delicious Mexican food. We walked home and went to bed. The end for day one.
Day two started at the pool. Aww yeah! We couldn't get in the pool, though, until we were completely accesorized. Of course.
Our doodle bug's first time ever in a pool started out in this little raft I bought her. Since it was early in the morning and kinda overcast, we opted to leave the shade visor off.
I mean, is she a diva or what?
Just acting like she owns the place.
Criss cross straps! Also, I wanted to kiss those shoulders all over. Sunscreen is the new chapstick, right?
We took off her shades and I'm sure I instantly became blindingly white to her.
After getting good and accustomed to the water, it was time to learn how to swim!
She actually kicked her legs a little! Sorta. Kinda. Maybe.
Guess she approves of swimming in the pool.
Nap time was approaching so I got her out and put her in this super cute (and super too big) jellyfist shirt that I appliqued for her. The tentacles are ribbons. So cute. My camera lens fogged up after going from AC back out into the humidity. Darn blurry picture.
This one's a little less blurry I guess.
That afternoon we decided to go to the outlet mall (um, duh). The jellyfish shirt and shorts were so big she looked like a hoodrat, so I changed her into my favorite summer bubble. I had overpacked anyway so I was trying to justify having so many clothes there.
Also, I really wanted to put this bubble on her since it matched the sunglasses I had snatched from Target's dollar bin. I could just eat her up with all that cuteness!
According to Katie Wynn, the outlets are exhausting. I've really got to work on her shopping stamina if she expects to keep hanging out with me.
We rewarded her shopping patience with another dip in the pool.
This time she was really brave and would even hang on to the side by herself! I think she's going to be swimming for real in no time!
Doc and my dad worked on putting together the new patio furniture we had purchased. The box it came in quickly became Katie bug's favorite place to play.
Just playing with some cardboard.
And then of course we all had to try out the new furniture, wet swimsuits or not.
We played musical chairs so we could all sit on each piece. :)
We ordered dinner in and ate it out on our newly furnished balcony. Can you tell Katie Wynn is begging for table food these days? She's worse than the dog!
Day Two ended with a walk to the yogurt store for some nighttime treats. 8:30 pm, still awake, and eating ice cream. We break all the rules on vacation. :)
We woke up on day three - our final day - and decided to hit the beach early. We spent about an hour slathering on sunscreen and then headed that way.
Katie's daddy picked her up and headed straight out into that big, loud ocean! She gripped on to his shoulders for dear life.
I can't believe I'm putting this family picture, complete with bed hair and paleness, on the internet. But, here ya go.
Little tiny toes in the sand.
Overall, I think this picture most accurately portrays what Katie Wynn thought of the beach.
Her Mimi rescued her from the sand while we picked up all of our stuff. Nothing like a fifteen minute round trip to the beach!
Back to gripping on to Dad's shoulder for the walk through the sand.
We made the walk back and plopped her into her floatie, her new happy place.
That afternoon, Mom and I left the boys with a honey-do list and we walked to town to do some window shopping. Our window shopping turned into real shopping - mostly all for my baby girl - and once again, she just couldn't hang. Girl's a light weight, I tell ya.
One of the things on the honey-do list was to hang up a couple baby swings that I had purchased for the upstairs balcony. I asked Doc if they were able to get them up and how they looked, and he said, "Um, you might want to go see for yourself." Looks like we may have to buy some chains to extend them because they are pretty high up!
Katie Wynn says porch swinging is fun no matter how high up your swing is!
More playing on the patio.
We went out to dinner again for our last night in town. I couldn't take any pictures during the meal because I was too busy picking up thrown toys and napkins and straws and anything else my girl could get her hands on. Here's one of her and her poppy (both with crazy hair!) after the meal.
We got up and hit the road early again the next day. We managed to shave at least an hour off our drive on the way back...Doc wasn't stopping for anything! We had a good, quick trip there and I can't wait until our next trip that's right around the corner! Hopefully she'll like the beach better by then...