Family Beach Vacation

When I dream of vacation destinations the first thing that comes to mind is always the beach. Growing up we spent most of our vacations camping by the ocean with all of our aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. I remember building sand castles, boogie boarding, sitting by the camp fire, bike rides, and gooey s’mores. I loved growing up with those memories and was so excited to begin giving my kids some of those same experiences.

The amazing thing about this trip was what I learned about each one of my kids. Although we have taken them to pools and the lake, this was the first time each of them spent any time at the beach. The mom quilt was setting in thinking about how I had yet to take my son and he is pushing three (I blame it on that three under two life).

Brock

Brock was instantly drawn to the water as he was very impressed with the size of the “pool.” Although hesitant with the water crashing against his legs at first, he quickly learned how much fun it is to run from the waves. He spent hours running to and from the water and had the sandy chaffed inner thighs to prove it. The remainder of his time was spent digging in the sand. He hated having sand on his little hands (which I anticipated would be the case) but it didn’t stop him from building and stomping down sand castles. When over due naps or high tides forced us back to the beach house Brock begged tirelessly to go back to the water.

Jordyn

We can all just start calling Jordyn baby Moana, that’s how much she loved the beach! The water, the sand, the birds, all of it. She walked right into the ocean without a fear in the world. Her favorite part had to be jumping over the waves. She giggled every time she could feel the current against her legs taking the water back out to sea. She loves digging in my planters at home so I knew she would have a field day digging in the sand and she did. She is also my child that will eat anything and everything so yes she ate a lot of the sand too. The birds also caught her attention and it was too cute watching her walk down the beach yelling, “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Jadyn

Jadyn I can confidently say was not a huge fan of the beach. I could tell she wanted to go in the water but hated how cold it was. She would immediately jump back in my arms as soon as it hit her toes. She is the fairest skinned of the three and was not too keen on having sunscreen reapplied again and again. If she found joy in anything at the beach it had to have been walking near the cliffs saying “Hi!” and waving to everyone she could. And of course the snacks. She loved the snacks!

Vacation During a Pandemic

Considering that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, we were so thankful that we were even able to take this much needed mini vacation. Unfortunately my brother came down with a fever the night before we were suppose to check in and wasn’t comfortable making the trip. Luckily it didn’t turn out to be Covid BUT I am still so bummed him and his girlfriend weren’t able to join us this time.

My sister, mom and I are worriers so we did take some precautions in order to make ourselves feel more comfortable. Luckily we live in California so we could easily drive and did not have to worry about any airplane travel. As soon as we got to the beach house we rented, we took Lysol to EVERYTHING. We each brought our own pillows and sheets, just to play it safe. Whenever we walked to the beach we wore masks and socially distanced ourselves from others on the sand. It was hard to keep toddlers from touching everything so I kept a small hand sanitizer on me at all times. We didn’t plan any other activities other than spending time at the beach. Luckily the house had a backyard that we utilized a lot as well. These small things made us feel so much more at ease and allowed us to enjoy our time together so much more.

Even during a pandemic, this vacation was one for the books and I love all the memories we made!