Beach Boy

We just got back from our first beach trip with Preston. We went down to Panama City with my parents and my brother and family. Our whole Reeves clan was there minus my older brother, Shane. He lives in South Carolina and wasn't able to make it down with us.

Now, not only was this our first beach trip, it was our very first vacation with Preston. Until our trip, he had never spent the night away from home. Needless to say, I was stressing myself out big time getting us prepared. I started packing several days in advance and as a result, we ended up with 1 large suitcase, 2 big duffel bags, a beach tent, a pack-and-play, a full beach bag, a food supply tote bag, a full diaper bag, a shoe bag, a car ride bag, Preston's little backpack and a blanket and pillow. Yikes! We also had my parents riding with us in the car so their luggage had to go too, of course. Thankfully, my Dad and Blake are used to my ridiculous over-packing and managed to snugly fit everything into the Pilot. Whew :)

We left out at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning in the hopes that Preston would sleep the majority of the drive down. I was really worried about him being confined so long but he did surprisingly well. After only one stop to the gas station, two naps for Preston, some snacks and juice and his favorite Nursery Rhymes DVD, we made it to PC by 10:00 a.m. He's such a good boy!

Our condo was wonderful. We stayed at the Splash Resort which has a mini water park inside. They have something for all ages. One end has a small splash pad for the little tykes, then there is a lazy river (mine and Preston's fav), two pools, and a water playground-type thing for the older kids. It was great because the lazy river was halfway shaded as well as one of the pools so there was not much worry for sunburn for the kids. The water playground was covered as well. My two nephews loved it there. However, there was one negative side to the playground...the huge bucket of water that dumped every two minutes or so. It was MASSIVE and when it dumped, A) there was so much water that anyone standing beneath could easily be washed away and B) it was incredibly loud and scary for little ones. We found this out the first day when we walked down there with Preston. He was scared to death! And he didn't forget it the whole time we were there. You could hear it from the beach and he would strain to see that it wasn't coming for him. poor guy. He also got scared of the ocean waves because they sounded similar to the bucket. Oh well, Maybe next year he won't remember it :)

As for the things he did like, he loved to play in the sand and he loved to splash in the pools. His favorite, as well as mine, was to float in the lazy river in our laps. It was so relaxing.

We had a great time with our family. We took some family beach photos and went out to eat and just relaxed as much as possible. Preston was a trooper but by 7:30 each night he was ready to get in bed. So, some of our dinners were cut a little short but we didn't mind. Vacations are definitely different with a little one but we wouldn't have it any other way. My parents stayed in with Preston the last night and Blake and I went out for a date night. We had some great seafood, play putt-putt and picked up some Dippin Dots, yum. However, we had our boy on our minds so we bought him a pair of squeaky shoes and got him an airbrush shirt. It has his name and a crab on it. You have to get an airbrush shirt the first time you go to the beach, right? We also picked him up a pair of Nikes that are just adorable. I can't wait until he's walking around in them.

We headed home Labor Day morning and made a stop at Peach Park in Clanton. We always stopped there on the way to/from the beach when I was a kid so I hope to do it with Preston each time too. It's so pretty there and the ice cream is fabulous. My Dad and I each got a double cone, one side peach and the other banana. Nothing much better than that! And of course I had to bring home some peaches. We took a few pictures by the giant peach and headed for home.

We had such a great time and I can't wait to go again. Stay tuned for Preston's 10 month update!