Summatime

Summer has always been my favorite season. The heat, the sun, the beach, running outside, grilling, the beach.....And along comes baby.  
First, if you know me, you know that if its not raining and above 75 degrees you will find me in my beach chair hunkered down with a good book or trying to catch some flat waves here in the Atlantic. It is almost July 1 and I have been to the beach 5 times thus far. 2 blissful times sans baby and 3 times that did not include a beach chair but a red crab pool and a wayward umbrella.  To those of you that are landlocked or envious of the parenting population, I apologize for my shallowness of this post.
 In order to properly enjoy the beach one must spend at least an hour there in my mind.  It has become such a production to  make it there that I hardly want to bother with it in the first place.  To go to the store it takes me at least 10 minutes of prep to ensure that I have everything that the baby and I need as well as getting everything in the car adds an additional 5 or so mins.  Going to the beach requires much more planning.  You need; the pool, the blanket, the pail and toys, the umbrella (nevermore!), sunscreen, chair (that does not get sat in), towels, cooler with snacks, water for both of us, wagon to haul all this mess, baby carrier to tote baby while hauling mess, etc.  After I puzzle piece each item into the car and load up the little one. We make the trek across the bridge to unload the goods and drag it all to the beach.  We are now about 30 minutes into the whole ordeal and now its time to eat.  Note to self, nursing child under cover in sun is hot and slippery.  Alright, feeding complete! I plop him in the pool to play where he is content for a mere 15 minutes then he is bored.  Cant put him on the sand as he tries to inhale it by the fistful.  My lap is too hot and sweaty from feeding him. And its getting close to nap time.  Sigh...I load all the things back up in the wagon, strap on the baby, and trudge back to my car enviously sneaking peeks at all the single gals sunning it up all day.   After piecing everything back in the car and driving home, almost 2 hours have passed where probably 45 minutes of that were on the actual beach.  Not worth it in my mind.  
Which is why we spend time hanging on our back porch or swinging at the park!

Hose and bumbo seat June 11

Best 15 bucks I ever spent! June 11

Loves the swing now.  June 11