Jo's First Beach Vacation

Mommy and Mama loooove the beach, so we were hoping Jo would feel similarly. Score!! He's our little beach bum.

We stayed at our beloved B & B for the third year in a row, which was really wonderful. It's inexpensive (cheaper to stay there for a week than to rent an apartment), dog-friendly (hello, Maggie needs her beach vacation), and low stress. Plus, yummy breakfast. The 80+ year old woman who runs the place called herself Maggie's Grandmom last year, and would take Maggie out of our room to hang out with her during the day. This year, she fell madly in love with Jo and went out to get a disposable camera before we left so she could take his picture. He loved her back, giggling and asking to be held. So sweet.

I love going back to places -- I am a true creature of routine -- so I was in my glory knowing which restaurants we liked, which beaches to go to, other spots to hit (the local winery and the arcades for skee ball, though sadly we missed out on that this year).

Vacation with Jo was not as completely different as I had thought it would be. We spent long hours at the beach; we have a little beach tent for shade, and Jo was happy to play with his toys and nap in there.

He also loved playing with the sand -- to our relief, he mostly didn't try to eat it! - and playing with his various beach accessories. Of course, all the beach toys were very tasty.

He loves water -- in lakes, pools, and the bathtub -- and while he found the giant waves intimidating when not properly controlled by the mommies, he looooved sitting on the shore and being lifted up high when a big one approached. Here he is contemplating the mysteries of the sea.

And crawling on the beach -- he's cross-crawling for real now, no more tummy -- was just too cute. Here he is in action:


A neighbor suggested we bring a computer to watch DVDs, and we got some great media in while he was napping "at home." (We finished up season 4 of the Sop.ranos and watched a quirky Net.flix pick, The Last Supper.)

One of our favorite beach vacation activities is the dolphin watch. Last year, we threw superstition to the winds and bought a dolphin magnet with Jo's name on it in their gift shop (though I hid it until he was born), which makes the dolphin boat even dearer to our hearts. Because we only saw a few dolphins, and had to turn back early due to rough waters, the captain gave everyone a free pass that never expires. We love the dolphin boat! But despite the choppy waters Jo had a blast!

....and then he fell asleep.

We took him to a few restaurants, where he flirted with everyone in sight and repeatedly tested to see whether gravity works at the shore (yes, Jo, the toys fall to the ground here, too...).

Back at the B & B, Jo delighted in his new ability to pull up in the P n' P...

and helped us plan our vacation.


Of course, Maggie got her beach time, too. She did her usual: digging, wading, long walks on the beach.

Finally, here's some old school pix of Mommy and Mama as little beach bums, just for fun.