Life's a Beach

Warning: please be prepared for lots of pictures! This past weekend we took Noah to Rockport, Texas for his first trip to the beach! It was about a 3.5 hour drive for us, which was not bad at all. We rented a little 1 bedroom cottage near the beach and had a nice little family getaway.

First introduction to the beach on Friday evening. I think he's a fan. Maybe even as in love with it as his mommy. What is it that draws us to the water, like mosquitos to a bug zapper?

This beach would be just about perfect for Noah. The water is only 1 to 6 inches deep, going out at least a couple hundred yards. Ideal for toddlers. When we arrived that evening, the water was warm and "high tide" was in, filling the bay with baby jellyfish. Loads of them. Dead, but still nervewracking to try to keep Noah out of them.



On Saturday morning, Noah decided to wake at 5:45 (yes, that's AM), and despite our best coaxing, would not go back to sleep. We ended up at the beach by 8:00. The beach was deserted, probably because the locals are aware of the cool, early morning temps and the problems that are presented on the baech at this time of day. :)

First, Jeremy and I were attacked by wicked mosquitos, which ate my arms alive. They were reproducing in the parking lot, I guess, and chased us almost all the way to the water, sparing Noah, thankfully. Then we realized that the water was ice cold instead of the pleasant bathtub feeling we got the night before. And then we saw the jellyfish. Yes, there were more of them. And big ones too. We had to be really careful. This series of small disasters had to make me roll my eyes at least. Or look for the humor in the situation. We didn't stay long but agreed to come back later and give it one more shot.

Noah didn't care too much about playing in the sand, so I built the obligatory sand castle for him.

One of the icky jellyfish.

Luckily, the afternoon experience was much better! The sun warmed the shallow water right up and the jellyfish disappeared.

This was about how long he was willing to leave the shades and hat on. Just long enough so we could take pics for the Nutts.
Hermit crabs were everywhere! Remember when people used to wear them on a chain around their necks?? Heehee. We put some babies on Jeremy's leg.

No dunce jokes please.
"Now where did I leave that sand pail?"

Noah is chasing the ladies already. He was mesmerized by this little girl, who was very pretty, and charming with her sweet smile.

We happened to be in town for the annual "Babes on the Bay" all-women fishing tournament. All women, all fishing, over 1000 of them. Interesting ladies.

Jeremy took a patriotic photo.

There were some cute shops we peeked in down by the pier. Well, I peeked while Jeremy entertained Noah.

We had dinner at Charlotte Plummer's, a local seafood place on the water. Can you see the exhaustion in these eyes? This was because the child who got up at 5:45am, refused to nap, and was tuckered out in time for our 5:30 dinner.

We made another early morning beach run on Sunday (yes, we were able to sleep in until 5:50 this morning), with plans to feed the seagulls instead of swimming this time. These birds weren't flying at us, more like hovering in the air right in front of our faces. If you enlarge this pic, you kind of get the eerieness of it. :)

Noah loved it. He was a little scared of them hovering (but who's kidding, so was I) but was thrilled with chasing them on the ground.

Now, I don't know much about hunting, but if you want to catch something, it's probably best not to yell "GITCHU!" (get you) at your prey, while running towards it.

Needless to say, we were all totally exhausted Sunday but made it home fine. Still a lot of catching up to do! This was a nice weekend getaway and now I am craving a "real" beach experience. Something a little less lake-like, where the water actually smells like ocean. And hopefully is jellyfish-free.

Night-night! This mommy needs some rest!