about Graeme's first beach trip

Two weeks ago, Aaron called me and told me that he was pretty sure they were taking a group of middle and high schoolers to the beach for two nights after he got home from Camp KidJam. I asked him if this was a trip that Graeme and I could tag along on, since they were only going two hours away and we had just been home alone the week before.

It ended up working out, and we were able to spend two nights at Wrightsville Beach this week. It was so exciting taking Graeme to see the ocean for the first time.

His first view of it was from our balcony. I'm sure it just looked like a big blob to him from that far away, but he still seemed pretty entranced. After Aaron checked all of the students in to their rooms, we had a few minutes to take him down to the water. He loved it!

Our best attempt at a family beach selfie with the sun blinding us:

Poor Graeme.

Thankfully, we got some actual family pictures taken the next day by our very awesome friend Joe.



Anyway, the next day, my parents drove over for a few hours. That worked out wonderfully, because Aaron was pre-occupied, and I'm not sure how I would have carried Graeme and the bazillion things required to take him on the beach by myself.

I wish I would have taken a picture of our set-up.

Graeme went down to the ocean a couple of times and got his legs in the water. We had mentioned that we were going to the beach to the pediatrician at his appointment the other day, and she asked what we were doing to protect him in the sun. We said we just planned to keep him out of it. She agreed this was best, but also told us it would be fine to try some sunscreen on him if we just put it in one little spot first and made sure it didn't bother him. We ended up using it with no problem. It didn't bother him a bit, and it gave me a better peace of mind for the times he was more exposed to the sun. (Of course we still kept him under the umbrella for the most part!)

Checking out the water with Grandy.

The beach tired him out, and after about two hours, he was done. My mom helped me get him back to our room and we gave him a quick bath to de-sand and de-sunscreen him. Then, he took a two hour nap.

We had a lot of fun at the beach. Even though we couldn't participate in the majority of the retreat or see Aaron very much, it was much better than being home! Aaron and I are hoping to take Graeme to the beach one more time this summer...maybe in September when it's still warm, the prices drop, and he's old enough to sit up and play in the sand. We'll see.

I wish Graeme would have been awake with me to watch the amazing storm over the water the night before we left. Aaron was still downstairs, and I went out on the balcony to watch. The lightning lit up the beach over and over again.

It was pitch black, but the lightning made it look like this!

So that was our first trip with Graeme to the beach, and another look at what growing up as a ministry kid will be like. He gets to do lots of cool stuff! He's four months old and has already been to a conference and a beach retreat. Ha!

He's such an easy-going baby, and he is a champ switching up his surroundings and his routine. He just goes with the flow...

A nap in the stroller outside of the hotel.

Playing with Sophie in the Lobby.