Mothers Day - Trips hit the beach!
Our long standing tradition is to go to the beach on Mother's Day. Last year we didn't go due to the weather and with "A" being pregnant, she was feeling pretty run down this time last year. This year we felt we had to get back on the tradition. That is right, we packed up everyone and everything and hit the beach. Instead of our usual beach spot, we decided to go to a beach where we could drive the van onto the sand and therefore have our various necessities at hand.
All in all I would have to say it went pretty well. On the way there, which was about a 30 minute drive, all three babies fell asleep. Just before arrival Livi woke up and after positioning the tent for shade and the blankets to avoid sand, we set Livi down to enjoy the nice ocean view. She seemed to like it initially, but then I think the sand got to her a bit. Ten minutes later she ended up in the back of the minivan ("A" put down the last row of seating so we had 5 feet of space) in her flutterbee bouncy. She was sitting as straight up as she could with her little pink sundress and matching beach hat. She looked like a beach fan sitting in the sky box. She was tilted to the side a bit with her hand propped on her knee, smiling and looking at the water in the distance. Every now and then she would give out a few words and giggles.
Once Samuel woke up he too took his turn on the blanket. He seemed to like the beach as well, although mostly played with familiar toys we brought along. He did spend some attentive time watching his big sister build a sandcastle and sat on "A"s beach chair with her taking in the view. Benjamin woke up with a look on his face as if to say, where in the world did we land? He is our little fish and we knew he would love the beach. I put him in a dug out, make shift chair in the sand covered by a blanket. He sat there and played, looking around. Then within an instant he rolled over and grabbed a handful of sand. He proceed to bring up to his face and start towards the mouth. When I picked him up he happily had sand all over each arm and cheeks.
Needless to say this will be a venture in practice. There are tricks of the trade yet to be identified and help aids to be invented, but we will keep you posted. All in all, we drove home last night with three sleeping babies and 8 year old eating Italian ice and watching a movie. "A" got a bit of sun on her face and we had a great Mother's day and have taken yet one more journey on our road to "getting out there" with the group.