First Beach Trip

At the end of May, we took Aiden for his first trip to the beach. We went to Ft. Lauderdale where we stayed in a condo on the beach. Our friends Paul and Mandy were supposed to come with us, but Mandy got food poisoning the night before we were supposed to leave. So, it ended up being just our little family, which was still a lot of fun!
Here are my 2 guys looking good on the beach. They loved playing with each other on the beach which was good cause I was just a beached whale.
Aiden LOVED the sand. Even more than that, he LOVED eating the sand! Nasty! We found some sea shells that Aiden kept and we brought home. We also got Aiden a pail and shovel so that we could build castles. But, Aiden just wanted to crush and smash it.
Aiden was not so sure about the ocean at first. I think the sound of the waves really scared him. He CLUNG to Ernie for dear life. And, he had a little quivering lip as he was trying not to cry. But, he eventually got use to it, and had his tongue out like this at all times (I think he liked the salt taste).
Day 2 or Day 3, Aiden got more brave and let daddy put him in the water. They sat and "jumped" waves from a sand bar that was out a little further in the water. They had a lot of fun.
We did a great job of keeping this boy safe from the sun. He got a great farmers tan, and no sunburn! But, I can't find this cute hat anywhere......it may have just become someone else's beach hat.
In Florida, it was kind of the rainy season. So, our days would go like this: we would wake up, go out and swim, then to the beach. After an hour or two out, we would come back in, put Aiden down for a nap, ate lunch, got ready and went back out to the beach again. But, beach trips are a lot different with a child as we are no longer able to stay out all day on the beach. We stayed out for a few hours and then would head in.
Here is Aiden and his daddy with their sunglasses on. Aiden LOVED the pool! Not only that, he had to wave at every person in the pool as well as every person that walked by.
Aiden would not hang in this float for very long. He sat in it for about 5-10 minutes, and then he decided he wanted to get out and "swim" on his own. He really does want to swim and it seems to be natural for him. I am thinking about getting him into swimming lessons.

Here is Aiden playing with the sand and trying to figure out how to use the shovel. We overall had a great trip to FL. We ate some good food, spent a lot of family time, played on the beach, swam, took walks and just relaxed. I am so glad we got a chance to go on one last trip before I start school.