Beach Trip!

 We have been looking forward to our beach trip since mid-winter when we were starting to feel shut in and tired of the cold.  We had no idea what Austin would think of the beach, but thankfully he was a big fan and we had tons of fun!  Again, I'll pre-apologize for the picture overload - but there were just so many fun memories on this trip to share!  Friday night we left for West Palm Beach to stay at the Marriott Ocean Pointe on Singer Island. 

We booked an evening flight on purpose, thinking Austin would play at the airport and then hopefully fall asleep in flight.  We got the playing at the airport part right - we had an hour delay and he had a blast waiting in between terminal 1 and 2 at DCA trying out his walking skills in a huge open uncrowded area. 

Unfortunately, we got the sleeping on the plane part wrong.  He was so interested in everything around him that he didn't realize how tired he was.  We drank milk and played and played until the crankiness arrived in full force.  Thanks to an empty row behind us, we found a little bit of peace and quiet and he finally fell asleep for the last hour of the flight.  You'd think he'd stay asleep, but upon arrival he got a second wind and was wide awake playing as daddy went to get the rental car.  That was grandma's first glimpse at our almost-walking one year old.  He took lots and lots of steps at the airport, making us realize that this week he was definitely going to be walking!

The first morning we hit up a patio restaurant on the harbor...delicious breakfast!  Austin got his first dose of warm, sunny, humid Florida.  He even managed to keep his shades on for several minutes at a time!

 The warm, sunny, humid air did bring along the problem of hydration.  This kid does not like to drink water.  He finally started taking a few sips here and there, although by the end of the trip we switched to watering down milk and watering down coconut water...both of which he's a big fan of.

Grandma definitely had a ton of fun playing with Austin and helping him master his walking skills!

We spent a little time each day at the beach...Austin loved it and would have probably loved to play in the sand longer, but the heat usually made us head in.  We buried his feet, played with his new beach bucket, splashed in the water, and watched him point at all of the boats that would go by.  Which was alot of boats, as we were right next to an inlet into the harbor.  Austin's new thing is definitely pointing at everything and grunting...we realized this week that its a bit frustrating when he wants you to take him to a boat, or an airplane, or in one instance, the moon.  Silly boy!

He really enjoyed putting things in and out of his bucket and splashing and dumping all of the water out!

Proud little guy as he walks through the sand

Chowing down at the beach, what a life!

Walking down the big slope to the ocean!

 

Fun in the water!

 Leaving the beach was easier each day because it meant playing with the shower by the pool.  Austin definitely is obsessed with water these days, and he could have played in this shower for a long time!

When not at the pool shower, Austin would make a bee-line for the bathtub in our hotel room - its faucet was low enough to reach so he was quite happy playing with it.

 The resort we were at had several pools and a splash park, so we also made time for the pool area each day too!  Even though he loves the pool, I think he found the splash park much more interesting.

The worst part of the week was teething....does it ever stop?  Austin started cutting two more upper teeth, and he'd go from happy and pleasant to shreiking and thrashing in an instant.  Thankfully Tylenol would do the trick, but it made for a few crazed moments.  The best part of the week though was watching him walk.  He got so much more confident and pretty much attempted to walk everywhere instead of crawl.  It helped if he had his favorite things in his hands to keep him distracted:

Another thing that helped was snacks...preferably cheerios.  Seriously, this kid can't get enough of them.  He found his snack cup while I was trying to change his diaper and proceeded to eat and cover himself in Cheerios.  Goofball!