Some of you may think it odd that we never go to the beach, but we really don’t.  My parents have had a house here on Holden ever since I was in high school.  But it has been years since I have actually been on the beach.  I’ve walked on the beach, sure.  And I’ve taken the dogs for a swim on the beach.  But actually taking chairs out there to spend the day like all the tourists, not so much.  I’ve never really enjoyed getting all sandy.  Walking through the hot, blistering sand to get to the ocean.  Having to wipe the sand out of your eyes when your neighbor stands up and flings sand everywhere.  Cooling off in the ocean while simultaneously watching out for the sharks, stingrays, and jelly fish out there swimming with you.  Trying not to drown as the current sucks you under.  I’m more of a pool girl, where you can stay nice and clean.  And if something is swimming next to me, I’ll see it.  My parents have a nice pool here at the house and you can’t beat the view watching boats go by on the waterway.  So we normally just stay here.  But yesterday I thought it was time we make the trek to the beach for Ashley.

You know how when things go smoothly it’s not really that memorable; but the things that don’t go as planned, those are the memories that really stay with you?  Well, our beach trip was certainly a memorable one.  First off, it took forever to leave the house.  After we got Ashley fed, changed, and lathered up, we packed the truck full of umbrellas, chairs, a tent, towels, a cooler, drinks, koozies, toys, and watermelon.  We unloaded everything at the public access and unpacked on the beach.  Van carried Ashley out there and when he arrived where we were sitting, his shirt was soaking wet.  Apparently, those Huggies Swimmers aren’t worth a darn.  I didn’t know this until now because when Ashley is in the pool, she is always wet so I had no way to know that the diapers leaked.  Not only did they leak all over Van, but we also found out she had left a deposit in there.  And these aren’t regular diapers either.  They are pull-ups!  How do you get a pull up off a baby without spilling the contents everywhere?!  Well, with the help of your Mom and sister of course!

Actually, let me back up a bit.  After discovering Ashley’s wetness, I had the brilliant idea of just putting her in the ocean to clean her off.  Ha!  Seriously?  Yea, I’m an idot.  I just held her while I stood in the ocean (didn’t even put her in) and she hated it.  It didn’t help that it was rough water yesterday.  She cried.  So I tried putting her in some water that had puddled up on the sand.  She cried.  I put her feet in the sand.  She cried.  We changed her diaper.  She cried.  Tried to put her suit back on.  She cried.  So we just left her naked with a clean diaper on.  She took about a 5 minute cat nap laying on my shoulder, and when she awoke she was good to go!  It was so funny.  Like she just needed to re-charge.  So from that point on, she was fine.  She ate some watermelon in her mesh feeder, lots of watermelon actually.  Played under the tent and entertained herself for quite a while.    When she began getting tired again, we packed it all up and came back home.

Man, it was exhausting.  She hated the water.  Hated the sand.  She was content just playing on a blanket under the tent.  So I don’t think we’ll be making another trek to the beach anytime soon.  All that work for such little reward.  Some would say it wasn’t worth it.  But having this story about Ashley’s first beach experience…priceless!