Putt Puttin' Along

Today started off pretty rough. Ayden woke up about an hour earlier than he should have and as a result was wearing a pretty big pair of fussy pants. We have found that the best thing for him when he gets like that is a change of scenery. At home we can just go up or down stairs and that changes it up enough for him but here we are limited to just two rooms. He seems to get stir crazy a little faster here so we ate our breakfast and got out of the room. The awesome thing about staying at a resort is that there is plenty to do right on the grounds. We stopped to look at the ducks that Ayden has become a big fan of (we can say, "Where are the ducks?" and he'll look to find them). Ducks are right up there with dogs and fans now which says a lot! After the ducks we decided to play a game of putt putt. Isn't that what everyone does at 9am? We had a lot of fun! David and I each got a hole in one and it was actually a pretty close game, though we didn't actually keep score. As we were turning in our putters and balls we were feeling much better about the day. Of course Ayden didn't actually play golf with us but he did enjoy exploring the course and found that golf balls are just the right size for his little hands :).

When we got back to the room we all climbed in bed for an hour and a half morning nap and then we were off to the beach!

Ayden really is a beach baby. He loves everything about it! It also seems to inspire him to stand freely because he kept pulling up on us or a beach chair arm and slowly letting go. It's funny because now he raises his arms above his head as he attempts to balance. He still falls down rather quickly but had a few impressive standing sessions.

Such a big boy, staying hydrated :).

David and I still got to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the beach despite the fact we had our almost 8 month old with us. He was so content to hang out with us under the sun umbrella that he made it very easy on us. We sure did get lucky with this little boy of ours!

We got back from the beach around 5 and Ayden was TIRED! I sat in the back with him and kept him awake long enough to get back then took him straight to bed with sand, sunscreen, and all. He fell asleep in less than 5 minutes and napped until almost 7. He probably would have gone back to sleep if I hadn't opened the curtains and got him up. He's never gone to bed for the night at 5 and vacation is not the time that David and I want to learn how early that would have him waking for the day. He typically sleeps 12 hours at night (sill wakes 3-4 times during that span) so if that were the case, we'd be greeting the day at 5am. No thank you...

We grilled portabello burgers with celery root fries for dinner and also threw some chicken on there for our salads on the way home. David went to return our RedBox movie and picked up a few things at the grocery while I did some room cleanup. When he got back Ayden finally got his bath and then we all headed to the hotel gym. David lifted some weights while I stretched and did some pushups, lunches, etc. Ayden enjoyed crawling around the room and looking at the ceiling fans that were in there. We got him ready for bed after his bath so when we got back around 9:30 he went straight to bed. He was ready so it went quickly and easily. Now David and I are enjoying our grown up time.

Today was probably our best beach experience to date. Some of the things that helped it run so smoothly: 1) apply sunscreen/put on swimsuits at the hotel. 2) accept that sand will get everywhere and can be cleaned up relatively easily. 3) take turns securing the sun umbrella so you don't have to chase it down the beach Bay Watch style (I totally had to chase it down the beach in a string bikini last time. Awesome.) 4) take plenty of snacks and water. Every time we do something we take notes and make changes the next time and things just get easier and easier.

Tomorrow is our last full day and this is probably the first vacation where I've not been ready to get home. I don't know if having Ayden just makes it that much more fun, if our apartment-type room makes it more like a home away from home or if I'm just dreading the car ride home so much that it makes me want to stay forever; but whatever the reason, I'm bummed it's almost over. I can definitely say we savored and enjoyed every moment.

[The wifi at this resort is slower than Christmas and Blogger is giving us troubles on top of that :(. I will probably just wait until we get home to insert the pictures to all of these posts. I will make sure that I insert links back to any edited posts once they are completed. Thank you for your patience! We are so frustrated with it but are trying not to dwell on it and just go with the flow.]

~Sarah