Beach Babe

Yes, we're long overdue for a post. We've had a crazy month: I've been sick with colds (twice!), we were in KY for a week (thank you, Katie, for the great post on your blog where I was negligent), I completed a pen and ink portrait and then we were in Myrtle Beach for a week!



Our trip to the beach was fabulous in nearly every way. Brad was there on business and Brooke and I just tagged along. Of course, that meant that we didn't have the luxury of Brad's company for most of the week, but it was a very nice trip that we wouldn't have taken otherwise. We did pay for an upgrade to a condo from a hotel room, and after some problems at check-in, we were blessed with an even nicer one than we had reserved! It was a large, 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with a full kitchen, washer and dryer, living room, and screened in breakfast patio overlooking a small lake that was only 20 feet away! In other words, it was heaven!

We were even visited by a nice family of ducks during breakfast a couple of mornings.


I LOVE going to the beach with a 2 year old!!! Brooke had a wonderful time playing in the baby pools and on the beach. Every morning we enjoyed both, came back for a bath, had lunch on the patio and then -- joy of joys -- Brooke took a three hour nap and gave me glorious down time when I didn't have to be cleaning!!! I indulged in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" all week and discovered a new favorite book. I LOVE the new movie with Keira Knightly and was absolutely enthralled by the novel.

At night, we'd go out for dinner with Brad and go for a walk or short play session on the beach.


Brooke's favorite part of the week were the baby pools. We stayed at the big Hilton complex and so we had access to all of the amenities -- including four baby pools and a water park. Her new favorite phrases are "Splash babies!" and "Down!", describing a huge bucket at the top of the play structure in the water park that would fill every few minutes and splash down over everything with much fanfare.


This was her first time at a beach. She loved the sand, shells, and playing with her beach toys. She didn't like the ocean at all, though, and was even upset when we'd walk along the beach at night and her stroller wheels would get wet. She had no problem, though, sending Mommy and Daddy out to fill her buckets with water! On the fourth day, though, I did find a little tidal pool and she really enjoyed playing in the "baby pool" that the ocean had made! It's all in the terminology!


As you can see, she loved filling her buckets with sand:


She sported some Pippi-Longstocking-esque braids for the pool:


And she even stayed still enough to try her first french braids!


Here she is in her very stylish hat from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville:


Thanks to my diligence with the SPF 50, there were no burns and even no tan lines on my fair-skinned self and baby! (I do actually have a nice tan, though, thanks to a bottle of self-tanner.)

So, a fun time was had by all! I'm all for Brad getting more work in Myrtle Beach. Thank you, Supportsoft!