Our Gift by the Name of Nolan: First Trip to the Beach

The weather had been off and on nice but the weatherman was calling for above normal temps for Friday. He say close to 80 or above and in the upper 70's for the beaches. After debating a bit, my mom and I decided that it was time to take a day trip to the beach. I hadn't been to the beach in two years due to the many complications with both pregnancies, so I was super excited about the trip. Additionally, this was going to be Nolan's first trip to the beach so I couldn't wait to create some memories.

The drive down was good. Nolan was pleasant and did okay in the car. He eventually fell asleep while watching his Backyardagains on his DVD player (best gift ever received, thanks Uncle Ryan). My mom and I kept watching the sky and hoping that the grey would soon be replaced by blue with rays of sunshine.

By the time we hit Rehoboth the sun came out and it was warming up. We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel and then drove the short distance to the condo. After unloading a car filled with stuff of a 9 month old, we lugged it all upstairs. Seriously, if I had more than one child I would need a Uhaul. I felt like I brought half of my house to the beach (and we were only there for the day).

After getting to the room, we all got ready to head to the beach. Nothing like getting a baby dressed only to have to undress him to get the sunscreen on. Lesson learned. We packed up the toys, water, books (like I was going to have time to read), towels, and chairs to head to the beach. After looking at the pile of STUFF to take to the beach, I asked my mom how we were going to carry all that plus Nolan to the beach. It was decided that I would make one trip to carry down the chairs and umbrella then come back to get Nolan and the other bags. People wonder why new moms loose weight quick....

After making it to the beach, Nolan played in his exercauser for a bit and then fell asleep. He was starting to get a bit cranky and he was sneezing a lot. After his nap on the beach blanket he got up with a running nose and red eyes. I knew at that point that the day was going to start going downhill. We did manage to sit on the beach for about three hours with him. He played in the sand with his toys, enjoyed finding the sea weed and chasing the sea gulls, and was in awe by the waves. He wasn't scared at all and he actually liked the sand.

We returned to the room and gave Nolan a bath in the sink. We got dressed and headed out to dinner. Our favorite restaurant. Claws. Never have we gone out to dinner and Nolan not be good. We had just said those words only a few hours before. Well, we jinxed ourselves. He was horrible. Between being tired, sick, and cutting a tooth he was miserable. We knew it, the waiter knew it, and the poor couple sitting next to us knew it. After a walk outside, Mommy literally shoving the food in her mouth, and mommom apologizing to the couple sitting next to us - we left. The food (what I could taste of it) was good, but the dinner was horrible.

If I would have known what was ahead of us, I would have remained seated at dinner and let him scream. Or maybe we would have just stayed overnight at the beach that night. Either way, to prevent what lied ahead of us would have been wonderful.

We decided to pack up and head out after dinner. Nolan was tired and we weren't going to be able to do many stores if we did the boardwalk, so we headed out. No sooner did we get out of the garage, Nolan started crying. I knew he was tired and I figured he would go to sleep. Negative. He screamed from Rehoboth to Rt 13 and he NEVER stopped. It was straight screaming. You might have thought that he was being bit by something. It was horrible. I got him out on Rt. 13 and he calmed down. I tried nursing him and he was okay. After about 20 minutes, we decided to travel the rest of the way home. No sooner did I get him in his car seat, he started again.

We drove another 20 miles or so before he FINALLY fell asleep. Almost an hour and a half of straight screaming. Raffi CD didn't work. Mommom singing didn't work. Mommy singing didn't work. DVD was a joke. Toys, yea no! What a drive!! That's all I am going to say.

The day was great. The beach was wonderful, relaxing, and enjoyable. The memories were amazing. Wyatt and Mommom came to visit us (butterflies, two of them on the beach blanket). But the night was not so enjoyable. A sick, cranky, teething baby = long, horrible drive home.

Here are several pictures for the day - no pictures of the evening (not something anyone would ever want to see.. LOL)