Santa Rosa Beach 2011--Day 1

Our first night on vacation was spent at a nice resort on the bay in Panama City (our condo on the beach wasn't ready until Saturday). So that night we had dinner at a restaurant on the water at the resort. You had to walk down a L-O-N-G pier to get to the restaurant. It was a fun walk, but did take a bit of time, at least 20 minutes. There was a lot for a little guy to look at and ask questions about--the rope handles, the grass in the water, the birds, the sounds, the frogs, the boats, parts of the wood, the nails, the creaks...you name it, we stopped to look at it and talk about it. But, we finally made it to dinner and had a great meal outside.

Cooper: What this, Mommy?

Me: That's sand.

C: Oh! That feel nice. I like sand.

M: There's a lot more of that to come!

This night also happened to be the night the resort had s'more night. They had a big fire pit area on the beach with all the perfect s'more fixins. If you know me, then you know I love s'mores, so this pregnant chick didn't turn down an opportunity to roast marshmallows and eat her favorite dessert on the beach.

To get to the fire pit area, you had to walk down a shorter pier then across the beach. We took off our shoes at the end of the pier, and I'll never forget the pure amazement and curiosity that Coop showed the first time his little feet touched the soft sand. He ran, wide-eyed, so fast through that sand and plopped down on his hiney yelling, "We at the beach! We at the beach!"

Cooper was quickly off to discover the sand...the feel, the taste, and what happens when you throw it. It was so fun to see his mission of discovering and exploring.

There were a ton of very large hermit crabs on this beach. Philip called Cooper over to see one walking around, and I absolutely love the look on Cooper's face in this picture. It shows his curiosity, his interest, his excitement. Just a pure, sweet look that says "what's that?" to me.

He also decided to see what would happen if he plopped down in the water like he did in the sand. He didn't really care for all the sand and now water in his pants and after standing up, he said, "I need take my britches off now."

So he ran and played like an almost naked jay bird.

Finally, we decided to check out the fire pit and make some s'mores. We've made s'mores before, but only in our fireplace at home during the winter. Making s'mores on the beach at sunset is now officially the best way to make them. For some reason, they just taste better.

As we were heading back down the L-O-N-G pier, Coop said, "The beach is SO MUCH FUN!!" It was almost like he thought that was the beach experience we'd been talking about for the last couple of weeks. So innocent and precious, and it made me happy inside knowing that he enjoyed and appreciated just that little bit of time on the sand. I thought to myself ... kiddo, if you thought that was fun, just wait till you see where we are going tomorrow.

08.26.2011

Beach Bound

Today, we are here...

Tomorrow, we'll be here...

Here's to our third annual Team Lamb beach vaca!! I can't wait for a week full of memories and fun with my favorite guys.

We flew nonrev out here, and flights were full on Saturday, so we hopped on a plane this morning to start our vacation. The condo isn't ready until tomorrow, so we are at a great resort on the bay for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we are going to Shell Island for a couple of hours before heading back to the resort to meet Gammi and head for our beach condo. Let the fun begin!

Picnic with Daddy

Whether real or pretend, picnics in the fort with Daddy are pretty awesome.

It's Cooper Man Pilot Man

Coop and I went to visit some SWA friends one afternoon and we ended up getting to fly a simulator for awhile. Coop was so excited to sit in the Captain's seat and see the flightdeck of a real airplane! He was asked to not touch all the buttons...a big request for a curious mind when sitting in front of one kabillion buttons! Luckily, he was on his best behavior...phew.

I pointed out a few features that I know and explained what they did (you know, I have flown a real 737!). I think he was so overwhelmed by all the gears, gadgets, buttons, and switches that he didn't ask many questions, but he had fun pretending to play with the switches and tell me we were "ready for takeoff!".

He told me we were flying to the beach!

The screens were turned on to where we were sitting in the hangar. Coop kept calling it a really big garage for airplanes.

It wouldn't be a trip to SWA without leaving with a few goodies! I kept thinking if only Cooper knew how lucky he was to be able to "fly" in a 737 simulator. Not an opportunity that comes along for many three-year-olds. Hopefully I'll get to take him again when he's a little older and able to absorb it a little more.

Night Time Transitions

When Cooper started sleeping in a new room and in a new bed, we decided it was also time to transition to a new bedtime routine. Up until now, if I was at home during bedtime, which is 99% of the time, Cooper was pretty darn adamant about Mommy putting him to bed. So instead of fighting it each night, I put Cooper to bed. I didn't complain. I mean, who would complain about spending at least 30 minutes reading, rocking and talking or just quietly rocking that sweet little munchkin before bed each night? Not this Mama. Now, if I wasn't home at bedtime, Coop had no problems with Philip putting him to bed.

So, with the new bed room came a new bedtime routine, which included Daddy putting Cooper to bed. One, because it's important for Philip and Cooper to have that time together each night. Two, because come October, there will for sure be nights when I'm home and I will have a newborn to juggle during Coop's bedtime. We've tried a couple of different things over the last few weeks to work Daddy into the routine, and I finally think we've found something that works.

We started with doing the normal Mommy and Cooper routine, with Philip just quietly sitting on the bed with us. And slowly over the last couple of weeks, we've transitioned to Philip being an active part of the bedtime routine, reading books and laying down with Cooper. It's actually become something I look forward to each night because all three of us pile on to Cooper's bed, we read a couple of books, then we all three lay down together. After a couple of minutes, I sneak out and Cooper and Philip have some fun and sweet cuddle time. I love listening to the monitor and hearing my two boys talk and laugh together.

There have been a few times when Cooper asked for me after I've left the room, but really, I think the transition is going great! Coop now asks for Daddy to lay down with us during naptime (even though Philip is at work) and if we start to read books at night before Philip is in the room with us, Coop will enthusiastically say, with his hands on his cheeks, "Oh no! What about Daddy?".

Hopefully the transition will continue to go smoothly and by October, Coop will be completely used to a new routine.

Just a couple of pics of where I found Cooper one afternoon. He climbed up in his bed to read a Richard Scarry book. I love, love that he is such a bookworm!

Back to the Zoo for Father's Day

For Father's Day Philip requested a family trip to the zoo. You don't have to ask us twice! And while looking through these photos, I realized we don't have a single photo of Philip at the zoo...I promise he was there. He was just behind the lens the entire day.

Our first stop was to feed the giraffes. No matter how many times Cooper has done this, he squeals with excitement each time that long giraffe tongue reaches out for the lettuce Cooper is holding. I hear over and over, "You see that?! See that?!" Coop talks in such a sweet voice to the giraffes and says sweet things to them. I love that he still shows such genuine love and compassion for animals.

I promise Philip didn't only take pictures of Coop and me feeding giraffes. He also got some really beautiful pictures of several of the animals we saw.

Another successful Team Lamb trip to the zoo!