I love summer vacation

Well we just returned from our 2 week vacation in Seagrove Beach, FL. It was truly a relaxing time spent with our family. I'll have to admit though that I had not completely thought through the logistics of bringing a newly mobile 8 month old to the beach. Ava did well sitting in the shade of the beach umbrella on a large blanket as long as she was occupied by a toy or food but that left one of us sitting there with her in the shade. She did manage to nap on the beach but of course they never lasted as long as her normal naps in a quiet cool place. A few times we left her napping back at the house with Pop Pop or Rachael to look after her and that was quite nice. Noah was probably the most entertained he has ever been at the beach just playing at the water's edge or in the sand. The three of us took a walk down the beach in search of shells for Noah but unfortunately the trash we found and picked up far outnumbered the shells! Nathan & I recently watched a show on PBS highlighting the effects of plastic on our environment and we are starting to try to be more aware of what we use (too many individual serving packages) and how we dispose of it. I am in the middle of starting to recycle and have realized that probably 75% of what we usually throw in the trash can be recycled. I am by no means a tree hugger but just feel led to make this change in our lives. Anyway, we had an awesome pool all to ourselves as well that we mostly made use of daily. Ava took her first dip in the pool and seemed to like it pretty well. We even have a skinny dipper on our hands! We had a great time and were very sad to leave. Thanks Nonnie & Pop Pop for a wonderful trip! And thanks Mimi & Grandpa for taking care of Sadie while we were gone!