Once we booked the beach trip and told the kids about it, it became the “hot topic” around our house. Britt would constantly say “we’re going to the beach after the baby is born!” and then once Tess arrived it became “we’re going to the beach in October!” Finally October had arrived and finally we were heading to Britt’s beloved beach 🙂
Since Tess was having bottle issues we talked about it and I decided to do two things I’ve never done. 1) nurse a baby on the beach and 2) let a baby nap on the beach. I know…CRAZY for Emily right?!?!
We put the kids down for their naps very early. Since Tess eats at 2 we still wanted them to get a solid nap before having to wake them up to go to the beach at her feeding time. They actually both slept! We got them up at 2 and Zach had already set up our beach stuff while they were sleeping. We loaded everyone up and headed down! Once we got settled I went ahead and did my thing. I just took down some of my suit and used a sheet to protect her from wind and sand (and passerby’s) and she ate great!
Excited kids!
Celebrating Tess’s first time at the beach 🙂
Since Tess’s awake time is so short I wanted to focus on her after she ate and then planned to focus on the kids while she napped.
Daddy was all about dipping her toes in the ocean!
She looks serious but she was totally having a blast 😉
Kye had NO FEAR of the ocean and it was great because the beach was so shallow and soft sand!
The only concern were jellyfish. You really could so easily accidentally step on one!!!
Prior to leaving for the trip I asked around about tips for a baby napping on the beach. I really wasn’t too worried about it. The sound of the ocean is the same sound we use for her sleep sheep when traveling for her naps so I figured she’d sleep! Going to the beach in October was amazing because it wasn’t hot or too sunny. It was seriously perfect weather for a baby beach afternoon!
Thanks to Melissa and Larissa for suggesting bringing our stroller! We set it up on the beach and when it came time for her nap I just swaddled her like normal and put her down. She stayed awake for a long time but she never cried at all and was just happy to be looking around.
Of course I checked on her like 1,000 times but it was nice having a “baby break” and being able to enjoy the big kids! I love watching them having fun and getting to see Britt fulfilling her beach dream was awesome!
I kept adding to the blankets to get it darker and darker for her haha
Both kids played SO WELL independently! They just wanted to play in the sand and were so content!
More attempts to darken it for her!
Kite surfers
And cruise ships!
Kye and I made “sand turtles” because I’m not very skilled in the castle building department 😉
Snacks!
Girl time 🙂
Tess may have her sleep and bottle flaws but girl is so chill which is a huge blessing! She slept for over an hour (which I totally call a win!) and then was SO PATIENT when it was time for her to eat but we had to wait to get all the beach stuff loaded up before we could head back to the room. She just calmly sat in my lap as happy as could be! She must love the beach just like her big sister does 🙂
The hotel was on the beach but our room was too far from the beach access to walk so we drove and the kids loved getting to be “rebels” and sit on the floor of the van rather than in their seats 😉
Before Tess was born I slowly stocked up on gift cards to help us get through the early days of a new baby. We ended up not really using many of them (we were SO blessed with a lot of food this time around!!!) so I brought a Domino’s one with us and we got pizza for dinner while at the beach 🙂
I love how Tess is always sticking out her tongue when the rest of us are eating…think she’s jealous?
Britt was SERIOUS about her Pizza!
girl kept eating and eating it 🙂
It was fun to watch the kids on the monitor as they talked and laughed and laughed…but they also needed to go to SLEEP. I’m SO thankful our kids don’t have to share a room at home!!!
Finally cashed out and resting up for another fun day ahead 🙂
