Beach Trip

It's been a very long time (in Jillian-years) that we've been to the beach, so this was almost like a new experience to Jillian. And she had a very fun time.

We went to Grannie and Papa's beach cabin in Ocean Park for Memorial Day weekend. Mommy and Daddy looked forward to getting away from it all for a while, and having Jillian get out on the beach and play around. We got there on Friday evening, and Jillian went right to exploring the cabin, even though it was way past her bedtime. She wandered around in destructo-mode, and eventually found lots of good books to read.

On Saturday morning, Jillian slept in to only 7:00 am, so Mommy and Daddy were very tired. So, we all headed to Full Circle Cafe for some coffee. We then came back to the cabin and took a short mid-morning nap. After that, it was time to head to the beach. When we got Jillian out of her stroller, she walked around in the dry sand for a while ... she thought it was pretty neat that she could dig her toes into the sand. After a little bit, we walked towards the ocean to play in the water. We weren't even within 20 feet of the waves when Jillian turned around and took off back towards the dry sand ... she wanted nothing to do with the ocean! When we tried to coax her towards the water again, she started crying. So, we stayed a good distance away from the waves, and dug holes and filled them with water from the pail. Jillian splashed in that water a little, then got crabby, so we headed back to the cabin. If we couldn't play in the water at the beach, we could at least do it at the Astoria Aquatic Center. We went there in the afternoon, and Jillian had a great time in the little kid pool that was less than a foot deep. We finished our day with a campfire, hot dogs and s'mores.

On Sunday, it wasn't as nice out, so the only thing we did at the beach was take a walk in the morning, with Jillian in the stroller. Then we took off for Seaside, where we met up with Scott & Cindy, Helen and Lindsey & Mckenna at a Liesure Time Resort. They had a very nice pool, and even a little one (this one was 1-1/2 foot deep), and the little one was very warm. So, Mommy, Daddy and Lindsey all hung out in the little pool with Jillian, and got soaked with all her splashing. It took her a little while to get used to trying to walk around in water that was up to her waist. But once again, she had a lot of fun. We finished this day with a yummy dinner made by Cindy, and ice cream for dessert (which Jillian got lots of spoonfuls of).

Monday morning was sunny, warm and calm ... one of the nicest days we've seen down there. So, we all headed right for the beach. The tide was way out, so we stopped at the tide pools and let Jillian play in them. The water was warm, so she was able to play for a long time without getting too cold. She used her shovel and pails, and dug and splashed and made a big mess. Then, we went into the dry sand to relax, and Jillian got even sandier. When she got restless, we headed back to the cabin and Jillian took a bath to get all cleaned up. Then it was time to go home. Jillian was a little go-go girl the whole time we were there, and loved having so much to do.