J and M + j + s: Traveling with two

This weekend Margaret and I went on our first trip with two children. Almost every summer we go to the beach and Josh is a huge beach bum. He loves playing in the sand and he has been asking if we are going to the beach. We had access to the same beach house my mom and step-dad rented last year so we knew what the house and area would be like but I didn't think we would be able to manage with a baby+toddler and with work being very busy right now. But Margaret convinced me we should go for a three day weekend and I agreed to give it a try. Our hope was simply to get some time in at the beach and return with the same number of kids we left with. Turns out we had a great time!

Family Selfie

We left Friday night at around Josh's bedtime. Our hope was Josh would fall asleep and Sam would nap (he's been napping in the evening at that time). Sam followed directions and slept the entire drive but Josh decided to talk almost the entire way. He finally fell asleep when we were about 20 minutes away so when we got to the beach house I just put him into his bed. This is the first time Josh would be sleeping in a bed in a room on his own since he stopped sleeping in a crib so we weren't sure how it would go. Josh didn't have any trouble in the bed (or wasn't any more trouble than at home).

On Saturday we got ready to go. Before we left for the trip I asked Josh what he wanted to bring to the beach, he answered "a shovel and a bucket". So before going to the beach we had to pickup a bucket for him to use (there was already a shovel at the house he could use). Once we got his bucket (and a few other beach toys) we headed out to the beach. We decided to walk the three blocks carrying both children and all of our stuff.

As we started to get close to the beach Josh started to yell that he could see the water! We bought a beach tent and set that up and were all set. Josh started to play in the sand and demanded we build sand castles for him to destroy. We tried to get him to play in the ocean but he refused, he kept complaining it was too loud (not sure how he survives Brannigan parties...). Meanwhile Sam was perfectly happy sleeping under the tent sucking his thumb (a new skill for him). Overall a great beach day, until we had to leave and pack up the tent. Unfortunately the tent was defective and could not be collapsed. Margaret dragged it back to the house and beat Amazon into submission to get us a refund. Despite the tent disaster it was a very good beach day.

Holding Sam <3

For dinner we did our annual dinner at Grotto for pizza. Josh was much more into the pizza eating this year, and was excited to get his balloon at the end of the meal.

On Sunday and Monday we went to the beach again in the morning and rented chairs and an umbrella - far safer than dealing with a defective tent. Josh again had a great time and loved playing in the sand. Last year at the beach he ran all over the place (which was very tiring for me). This year he stayed mostly in our area playing. He frequently demanded we bring him water but still refused to go into the ocean. I'm sure in a year or two he'll love playing in the water. Sam was also well behaved although usually needed to be held. He is now insisting on being held facing outwards so he can see what is going on but that makes him very happy and calm.

We went out to dinner on Sunday night and had another milestone. We gave Josh some shrimp cooked in peanut oil. Our allergist said peanut oil is not a concern (some magic sciencey reason why) but despite that we have always avoided foods cooked in peanut oil. It is likely he has had some food cooked in peanut oil without us knowing but this was the first time we knowingly did it. We were ready with the epi-pen but thankfully he had no reaction. He only had a few bites, so we will have to work our way up to a full meal.

After dinner we went to Funland. Last year we took Josh there to ride on a boat ride and play some ski-ball. This year he rode the boats, then wanted to ride on some firetrucks. We took him to ski-ball but he wasn't very interested in that (unfortunately for Margaret). What Josh really wanted to do was ride the carousel. A week ago Margaret tried to take Josh on a carousel but Josh was too afraid and refused to go on it. This time he was determined to ride it. I rode with him (unfortunately for me and my motion-sickness) but during the ride he said to me, "I'm having fun!". After the ride he ran over to Margaret and said, "I didn't cry". I was amazed how much fun he had and that he remembered not doing it a week ago and how determined he was to make up for it. Josh really enjoyed Funland and we loved seeing him so happy.

We had another great beach day on Monday, with perfect weather. Josh was finally willing to touch the water, so we think another day or two we might have had him playing in it.

We came home on Monday evening after a very successful and fun trip. I was concerned it would be a disaster but it really worked great. Josh was really well behaved and had lots of fun and Sam was his normal easy going self. Looking forward to many more beach trips with our boys :-)