We were able to escape to Wildwood, NJ for a quick weekend to visit our friend Lauren and her family. They have an amazing beach house that overlooks the bay so I was very excited to take Lily for her first visit to the beach!
Although she has already been to Disney, we never had time to stop at the ocean during our trip. I grew up spending my summers at the Jersey Shore, so it was really important to me for Lily to get the true shore experience!
I was a little nervous since she is not walking just yet, barely standing on her own and still eats everything that she can get her hands on. I envisioned handfuls of sand going in her mouth and tears when salt water hit her face. I was surprised to find exactly the opposite. It turns our Lily girl doesn’t like sand on her hands but adores her toes in it, and she loves when the waves smack her in the face and almost knock her over. She laughed and laughed as the tide rolling in got stronger and bigger and was hitting all the way up to her belly. She had no interest in jumping the waves, just letting them knock her around. She desperately wanted to sit and play in the water, but I wasn’t ready for that, so she had to deal with standing. It was amazing how she reacted so favorably to the water! Beach baby for sure!
For her swimming pleasure, they set up a baby pool on the deck, which is right on the bay. So she got to splash around with Lauren’s nephew who is two months older than her, and not have to worry about sand and salt and waves. She was purely pruney when I dragged her out of the pool and made her put on some dry clothes. She could have played in there forever!
One tradition we always had growing up and Kevin and I have continued since our first trip together in 2007 is eating at Mack’s Pizza (formally Mack and Mancos). It is the best pizza I have ever had and it holds such a special place in my heart, I couldn’t wait to take Lily there. Being the parents of the year that we are, we arrived at promptly 8:45 p.m. for dinner. Did I mention Lily’s standing bedtime is 9? Yeah, poor kiddo was exhausted. This didn’t keep her from eating some Mack’s pizza though. Her first taste of pizza and only the best for my princess. Spoiled kid? I think so!
Thank God she is such an amazing little traveler and sleeps the whole way there and home (except when we forgot to feed her and she cried. Parents.Of.The.Year!)
Here’s a little recap of our princess at the beach: