First Family Vacation

I promised i would post about our first family vacation, once we returned home and i have been very slack about posting lately. We really had a great trip when we took Mason to the beach for the first time. We left thursday night and got to the house in time to feed mason and unpack and get in the bed. It was hard to sleep away from home and with mason in his pack n play versus his own crib in his own room at home, but we made the best of it, we got up early and went to breakfast friday and then we went to the beach for a just a little bit and took mason in his front carrier for a little walk along the beach, while we were walking we saw a big 4-5 foot shark about 10 feet from the shore right in front of us, it scared me half to death and landon took off to inform the parents of a boy who was swimming very close to us. I have never seen anything like that before and it really made me apprehensive about mason ever stepping foot into the water. lol. After we left the beach we went to broadway on the beach and went to the Ripleys aquarium. Mason had an amazing time and landon and i loved it too. We were able to escape the terrible heat and Mason was just fascinated by the different aquariums and fish. I loved watching my little boys face light up with awe as he carefully studied all the beauty within each tank. I cant wait to take him back again one day. That night we took ling ling down on the beach with us and she really had a great time running in the wet sand but the waves and the dry sand were a little scary for her. She wanted to be held a lot but finally became really interested in chasing a flying seagull around and chasing the water as it washed in on the shore. The next day we headed to barefoot landing for a few hours in north myrtle and then stopped by good ol ocean drive (shag capital of the world) my home away from home for a large portion of my youth. We ate lunch at the blvd grill and then stopped by our friends nancy and ron alexanders condo to visit them and for them to meet mason for the first time. It was a nice visit, and afterward we headed back to holden and enjoyed the rest of the day with mason on the beach. He lloked absolutley adorable in his swimsuit, sunglasses, and hat. He was not too happy about the cold water on his feet and he let us know real quick, so landon held him and stood in the water with him and he was happy as a tick watching the waves roll in and out. After a little bit in the water we laid him in his tent and he had some apple juce and water and then he zonked out and napped for several hours while landon and i laid out and enjoyed the sun and sand!! It was a really great day and the most relaxing time we had. That night we got baths all around including ling-ling and then the 3 humans went to dinner, came home and put mason to bed and landon and i enjoyed ice cream sundaes at home on the couch while watching the stepford wives. sunday we woke up and decided we missed our beds, the heat was killing us, and our ymca waterpark was calling our names, so we headed home to charlotte, unpacked our car, put our swimsuits on and went to the waterpark at the ymca to swim. Landon had never seen mason in the pool until then and mason really had the best time he has ever had at the pool, that day with landon there with him.

We really had a wonderful first vacation as a family!! It was a much needed getaway and although it was short, it was a really nice trip. But we were definitly happy to come home to our own house and our own beds!! We are really looking forward to our next vacation and i'm sure the older mason gets the more fun he will have but i know, as his parents, we will always remember taking our son to the beach for the very first time together and just how special it was. I will upload pics soon!!