The Hunt's: Last Beach Day as a Family of 3

A few weeks ago, back when I was 38 weeks pregnant, we had the crazy idea to go to the beach for the day. If you don't know me that well you may or may not know, but Im not a spontaneous person. I plan EVERYTHING! This was NOT on the agenda for the day. We actually were headed to the playground in our neighborhood and it was actually MY idea to go to the beach. It was such a nice day and I knew this was going to be the last chance to take Jane before Jackson got here, and I wasn't sure how taking a newborn to the beach would go.

So we rushed home and packed everything we could think we may need and drove 30 minutes to Kiawah Island. I wasn't sure exactly how this was going to go. You see, the last time we took Jane to the beach (last summer), all she did the entire time was RUN! She didn't stop at all to sit or play in the sand. I knew I wasn't going to be able to run after her in the heat with a 38 week belly and I wasn't sure how long Mr. Hunt would last chasing after her.

Once we got there we decided to sit closer to the water in hopes to have a lot of options of things to do. I think it also helped that there were a lot of people there so she didn't feel like she had the whole beach to herself to run around. But I also think that now that she is a year older, she is more interested in the water, sand, and "friends."

I didn't dare try to put a bathing suit on so I sat on our towels the whole time and Mr. Hunt played in the water with Jane. She loved it and caught on quickly to jumping the waves. I felt the water and it was FREEZING! Im not sure how they both got in.

Jane was also into the sand a lot. She made some "friends" who were older than her that were making sand castles and she tried to help some. We also had a few sand shovels and buckets and we made some stuff in the sand for her. Her favorite thing was to squish/demolish whatever we made as soon as we were done.

SHes also at the age where we felt safe enough to let her walk around a lot on her own and she can play independently very well. It was actually (dare I say) somewhat relaxing. Mr. Hunt and I on the towel in the sun, watching Jane have the time of her life.

Last time at the beach as a family of three!

We had a great time. We left talking about the logistics of having a newborn at the beach. It can be done, but it will require a lot more equipment, patience, and sunscreen.

Really, we are just so happy to be back on the east coast. How many times have I mentioned that on this blog? I can't say it too many times. How great that the beach (and there are about three others we can go to around here) is only a 30 minute drive from our house. I can just imagine how our summers will look in about 2 years with both Jane and Jackson running around together! I can't wait!

Im so glad that I was willing to be spontaneous this day. It was a nice way to spend our last weekend as a family of three. Jane had a blast and thats all that we could have asked for.

By the way, we made a family decision to skip her one and only nap for this trip to the beach. Once again, kind of a crazy decision, but it was worth it. We were positive she would fall asleep on the way home. We even had bets on how many minutes it would take for her to fall asleep once we got in the car. Guess what? She never fell asleep! This is what she did! Watched Frozen!