spring beach trip

It's a family tradition to head down to 30A for a week in the spring. We try to avoid spring breakers but this year with calendar conflicts and baby due dates, we headed down to Seaside, FL in the thick of spring break but got lucky with amazing weather and only a slightly higher volume of hormonal teenagers.
I have started and stopped typing this post so many times. Mostly because the business of getting back to work and the daily routine keeps "distracting" me from my blog. Plus, it's hard for me to put into words how completely fun and relaxing this vacation was. Emmy was so good the whole entire trip. I don't know if that really speaks volumes about our parenting skills. It really speaks to what having a whole village of adults to entertain a toddler can do. Emmy barely whined and she was off for a ride in Elvira (the golf cart) or off on a bike ride, walking to the beach or pool or picked up and fed chips. My niece, Hannah, is an excellent little crawler but she hardly got the chance because we all loved picking her up for the big, silly grin we got as a reward. I was fine with the spoiling, what is vacation if not a chance to spend time with your favorite people and spoil the shit out of them?
We spent almost all day, every day at the beach. The sun felt amazing, tingly and refreshing with only a few clouds and the cool breeze helped everyone forget about the consequences of long term sun exposure. Everyone laughed while I covered myself and Emmy with SPF 75. I was the only one laughing the next day.  

When everyone tired of snacking on chips, we headed up to Bud & Alley's for lunch. We sat on a covered patio that looked down on the beach. It was almost chilly with the sun shaded and the breeze coming through but it made my skin feel sort of alive. I think that's why I love the beach in the spring time so much. After a long, cold winter, it feels good to let air touch your skin again before it gets too hot and humid. 

We cooked most of our dinners at home but decided to head out to the Red Bar for dinner one night to keep the tradition going from last year. 

The wait for a table was almost an hour which is basically FOREVER when you have a hungry toddler. The 7 adult to 2 baby ratio came in handy again. When we were taken to our seats, I almost wanted to scream. They put us right next to the front door where people were standing and dancing in front of the band. It was so loud and crowded that my claustrophobia started to kick in and I wanted to walk out immediately (my mom says I don't actually have claustrophobia but just a very human aversion to being suffocated or squished). I'm glad that no one else listened to my complaints because once we were seated (and I had a glass of wine) we actually enjoyed the loud noises and crowds. Our kids could holler, dance and sing and everyone thought they were just as cute as could be. 

Alex and Joe get along so well. Pretty much all the in-laws and siblings went to college together so we all became friends and hung out together from a young age. That makes vacationing so easy, we can go out together or separate into smaller groups without any concern. Plus, I like to think that we are all pretty cool and fun so how could you not have a good time?

A sweet lady walked up to Katy to tell her how wonderful it was to see 3 generations of women who look so much alike all together. Katy didn't explain that my mom is technically her stepmother - they look more alike than me anyway! The funny thing is that I took a bunch of pics and the one that mom said, "oh, this one is great!" actually had only 20% of Katy's face and even that part was an indecipherable blur. Some generations get all the attention....

Our days were so full. I had no idea my kid had so much energy. She would just go, go, go with us and we were so proud of her attitude. I kept saying "go with the flow" because that's what Joe always does and Emmy had inherited that but it was work for me to relax and not plan things or to worry about her nap schedule or meals. It was good for her and good for me to just let life happen and enjoy every minute. 

Emmy rocked the ocean. She took turns approaching adults saying, "Come on, Coco!" or "Come on, Awex" to get someone to hold her hand while she stood at the edge of the ocean, laughing wildly and kicking her feet up in the air every time a wave washed over her legs. 

Emmy's communication just exploded this week. She would repeat almost anything we said, recite everyone's names, her ABC's, she counted everything and she mimicked our mannerisms so well. She just seemed so grown up. Alex pulled out a kite and we said, "Emmy, do you want to hold the kite?" and she just screamed "KITE!!" and ran to it, holding the string and her arms up like she had done it a million times. She must have picked it up from one of the other families on a previous day but we were all in awe of her "realness". 
I often go back and forth over the benefits of being a SAHM vs a working mom but I can honestly say that I could be with her all day, every day and not get bored. She is amazingly sweet and funny. Her expressions literally make my heart feel bigger and going back to work this week after so much time together has made me miss her even more.
I guess the only solution is more vacation, am I right?