Beach Bum

On the Friday of our Florida trip (two weeks ago already!), Ellie got her first taste of a real beach. Sure, she put her toes in the sand here on Memorial Day, but that was at a man-made sandy area in a park along the river. Was it charming and fun? Yes. Does it count as a real beach experience? Nope. We're from Florida; we have standards.

My mom and stepdad Gary joined us for the big beach outing. We all met at Indian Rocks beach and lugged all our chairs, towels, umbrellas, diaper bags, etc. out to the sand and set up camp. At first, Ellie did not seem impressed.

First time at the beach!

I'm not sure what she makes of it.

She may not be excited, but she sure is cute.

After a quick meal, she spent some time playing with her Grammy.

Ah yes, it's this crazy lady again. I remember her.

Ellie and Grammy at the beach

We also tried to make an impression of her footprint in the sand using a kit I bought online. You're supposed to make her footprint, place a frame around it and then pour in some plaster. When the plaster dries, you have a 3D impression of baby's foot. It was...okay. It wasn't what I expected but it wasn't a total bust.

Can you see her little footprint in there?

After arts and crafts, it was time to hit the water! Ellie put her toes in the surf for the first time, then her Daddy took her out to play in the waves.

Welcome to the Gulf of Mexico, baby!

Oops! I think that wave was a little bigger than expected!

In the water with Daddy

Hold on to your hat!

Family beach time

We took a break from the water (and the sun for Ellie) for a little while and spent some time hanging out on our blankets.

Our beach setup

Handsome man

Ellie and Grammy

After a bit Eric and I took a walk down to the water for a few minutes by ourselves. Ellie started to get fidgety back at "camp," but we didn't want to walk her around in the sun, so Gary came up with a great plan of action and Eric and I soon saw this walking towards us:

Problem solved!

So, with giant umbrella in hand, we went for a little walk.

Someone actually came up to us and asked if she could take our picture for us because we were so cute!

Ellie found beach-going to be quite exhausting and passed right out.

Sleeping baby - a beautiful sight.

So sweet.

By that time we were about finished at the beach, so we packed up all of our stuff and marked this outing down as a very successful first beach experience for the little one.

That afternoon, Gary and Eric went golfing while my mom, Ellie and I went over to my stepsister Julie's house to visit. We enjoyed a Steak 'N Shake dinner there before calling it a day. We were exhausted, but it was such a fun day!

I think there are lots more beach bum days in Ellie's future, don't you?

Ellie Explores St. Petersburg

We're finally back from all our travels! I have been trying to stay on top of the Florida recaps as our travel was still in progress, so I will continue on with that before telling you all about my family reunion in Cleveland this past weekend, in honor of my Gramps's 90th birthday. Both trips were fantastic and we had a wonderful time, although it does feel nice to be back home again. Judging by the five-hour nap Ellie took today, I'd say she was pretty ready for a more relaxed daily itinerary! And now we have nothing major on the agenda for about a month, so I can sit back, relax, sort through pictures, post recaps, and let my poor exhausted baby catch up on her rest.

On the Thursday of our Florida trip, Ellie was refusing to nap (that is so her style, hence that exhaustion I just mentioned), so Eric and I decided to take her for a nice long walk to get her to nap in her stroller. So, our little family plus my dad went to downtown St. Pete for a nice waterfront stroll.

We started out at the St. Petersburg Pier, possibly for the last time ever, as the Pier's days are numbered. I remember going down to the Pier often when we first moved to Florida (I even saw 'N Sync in concert there on the Fourth of July before they really hit it big), and Eric and I had our wedding rehearsal dinner there. I'll be sad to see it go, so I was glad we got to wander around one more time.

The St. Petersburg Pier

Ellie was still awake when we first started out, so she got to play tourist with us a bit and saw her first pelicans.

Pelicans on the Pier

Pier Bait House

Tourists!

"Whoa. Mom, are you seeing this thing?"

My pretty girl

Pelican!

My family

We wandered around the Pier for a while, and on our way out of there Ellie finally passed out.

Sleepy girl

Of course, being a sleeping baby does not make you exempt from posing with statues. Baby's first Fun With Statues experience! Hooray!

This is a big moment in a young girl's life.

From the Pier we walked along the waterfront over to the Mahaffey Theater, where Eric and I had our wedding reception almost five years ago. We had to stop for some poses in the same spots as some of our more notable wedding photos.

The Mahaffey Theater

Posing in front of the fountain outside

Dip! Five years and one baby later!

Honestly, we totally hadn't planned to do that - it was purely coincidence that I wore a white dress and Eric wore black!

After our Mahaffey fun we started to make our way back to the car. Ellie woke up en route, but hey, at least we were able to get her to nap for a little while, and took a little walk down wedding-memory lane in the process!

Sucking her thumb!

Family Bonding Time

On the Wednesday of our Florida trip, while her Daddy was golfing with Uncle Ronnie, Ellie got to spend some quality time with her Grandpa and Auntie Heather. First, she spent the morning playing on the floor with Grandpa...

That Grandpa is such a character!

Team tummy time

Then, Auntie Heather showed up for some floor fun.

Hi, Auntie Heather!

Auntie Heather also took Ellie for a tour of the backyard. Ellie was particularly interested in the bottle brush trees.

Check this out...

It's SO COOL!

We also spent some time sitting outside enjoying the nice evening before Auntie Heather had to go back to work.

Naked baby in a hat!

It's so fun to watch Ellie interacting with her family!

My New Favorite Picture

My heart almost can't take it.

Bathing Beauty

Last Tuesday, while we were in Florida, Ellie went for her very first dip in a swimming pool. I have to say, pool/beach-wear suits her:

She's such a little supermodel.

We started by wading into the water gradually, and spent some time watching Grandpa swimming around and blowing bubbles.

Checking out the giant bath tub

Crazy Grandpa!

Then we decided to try out Ellie's fancy new raft, which went pretty well for a second...

Bathing beauty

...but fell apart pretty quickly.

Oops.

So, it was back to holding her for a while.

Family pool time!

We wanted to protect Ellie's fair baby skin from the Florida sun, so after a few minutes Eric took her into the shade while I relaxed in the water a bit longer.

My loves in the shade

I'd say it was a pretty good introduction to the pool, all in all. It's funny to think that in just a couple of years, she'll be so excited to go to Grandpa's house to go swimming! I have a feeling that day will come much faster than I expect...