Avery's 1st Beach Trip!

Now that Avery is a little more flexible with her naptimes, we can take day-long excursions without worrying about having to dealing with a grumpy baby. This weekend, we decided to hit the beach with our next door neighbors, John, Elaine, and their almost-2 year old, Kate!

Important things to pack when taking a baby to the beach: 1) Canopy = AWESOME! We had are own private cabana, shielding the blazing sun from the babies while they played, because seriously, it was so hot that the sand burned the soles of my feet.

2. Baby Sunblock. But word of advice: put the sunblock on before you get to the beach, otherwise you get this:

A sand-coated baby. All you need is a breeze and the sand just attaches itself to her little freshly applied sunblocked chest like peanut bits on a chocolate-coated frozen banana.
3. All-terrain wheeled stroller or wagon. As you can see here, we only got as far as the edge of the pavement on the strollers. Once you get on the sand, they're just stuck. We watched as a beach-wise dad pulled his wagon with his toddler sitting in it, going right past us and onto the beach like it was as smooth as the sidewalk. Nice!

Parking was horrendous at Newport Beach, as usual. As I had hoped, China Kitchen is still open like the good-old days of high school, and they let us park in their parking lot for $10 bucks. Well worth it, as its only a block from the water. We noticed that most of the oceanfront houses were pretty much empty vacation rentals. Wonder what the rate is to rent one right now...
4. Like 3 changes of clothes. Because they're going to get sand all over the first one, food/juice all over the second one, and then there's always the possibility of a reverse blowout...
Avery going to town on a chunk of watermelon - while wearing a watermelon tank. We are fan of watermelon! Note the previous picture, Avery's wearing more watermelon, courtesy of Great Auntie Lyn!

She learned something on this beach trip! She still hasn't gotten the hang of the sippy cup yet, so I took off the top and just let her sip the juice-flavored water out of the cup. She couldn't get enough of it! We'll figure out how to drink from a sippy cup eventually... But atleast this a step in the right direction. I'm always afraid in this hot weather that she's not getting enough fluids, especially since she's been hating on juice and water up till now.

4. Baby Powder. That stuff is REALLY useful to take sand off. ESSENTIAL for the beach.So cute how Kate was so looking forward to seeing the ocean and the beach. When she finally stood in front of the waves, she was so excited! The whole time we were there, she spent running around with a bucket - get some water, then come back to the cabana and DUMP the water out, and proceed to return back to the waves to get some more water "Let's go get water!" haha! I can't wait until Avery is older and can appreciate the sand and water.Fun at the beach!
I brought her to the water, and she looked out and watched as the waves crashed softly against the shore.
Then I put her feet in the cold water, and she looked around as the ocean water rushed up around her. She got a little overwhelmed and whimpered a bit, hehe. Maybe next year!

After a few hours of fun in the sun, we packed up and headed home.
The kiddos passed out on the ride home. Ahh yes, Mission Accomplished!