A Week at the BEACH!!

Whew... we made it through our first vacation with a baby! Every year the entire Smith family (near and far) loads up and heads to Crescent Beach for a week. Every year things seem to change -- first there were girlfriends, then there were wives, then new boyfriends, and now -BABIES!!!

Here is the WHOLE Smith gang!

Babies sure do change a vacation, I must admit! There are feedings and nap schedules to adhere to as well as play time and relaxation time (oh wait.. did I say relaxation time? That must have been a typo!!) My sweet little one is a GREAT sleeper. At least at home. I thought spending a week at the beach would knock little miss out cold every night. I mean what kid after playing in the sun, water and sand all day long wouldn't be knocked out cold at bedtime? MY KID!! I think I got less sleep on vacation then I do during a regular week at home! Oh, Cori Belle! Not to mention that we had to share a room with our dear one all week so crying it out was not an option. Instead, Cori and I played at 1 in the morning, cried at 1 in the morning, laughed at 1 in the morning, rocked at 1 in the morning .. Did I mention we did all this at 1 IN THE MORNING while trying not to wake up Cori's aunts and uncles sleeping in the next two rooms over?!!? I am not so sure we did a great job! Sorry Aunt Missy, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Rebecca, and Uncle Casey! Hopefully we will have it sorted out by next summer! :)

Other than our sleepless nights, we had a blast! Cori...

played in the moon pool,

ate some sand,

let the waves crash on her legs,

had a piggy back ride,

sucked on her paci,

practiced her verbal skills,

sat and watched the ocean,

swam in the pool,

watched her crazy uncles play beach soccer,

hung out with her second cousins who are just one day younger than her,

went for walks on the beach,

took naps on the beach (short lived naps; more like power naps! :),

attempted crawling on the beach,

ate some more sand,

practiced her kayaking skills (beached kayaking!!),

spent time with family,

laughed a lot,

cried a lot,

loved on her momma and daddy a lot,

lounged in a beach chair,

lounged in a picnic chair,

found that a water bottle is actually a great toy,

and wore a different bathing suit every day (thanks to all our awesome family and friends who bought cute suits for her beach trip!!).

Yes, vacations at the beach are different with kids, but I had so much fun! We have some work to do before next year comes around though -- like sleeping through the night!! Now that we are back at home, we are sorting things out. We may have a few "cry it out" nights here at home, but we WILL get back on our schedule! Isn't that right little miss Cori Belle?!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are.

Until next time...