We'll be havin' some fun

More new pics just added!

Yesterday, we took Jacob to the beach for the first time. It was an unexpected bonus that the husband was able to join us, so it was a family affair. Taking Jacob meant we both had a bag (one filled with his stuff, one filled with towels and lunch and hats and the like) as well as his carrier, so we felt like the seashore Joads, but it was worth it for the change of scenery/pace. And he liked the beach, which shows his already well-defined good taste (she says obnoxiously). Actually, we are, of course, not sure if he liked it or just tolerated it, but he didn't cry, which is a good sign. He fell asleep in the Biorn after eating a somewhat sandy bottle and came home with a fine film of sand all over, which he also didn't seem to mind.

We went with some friends of ours and their kids and some other fathers managed to show up, along with some mothers we didn't expect, so we ended up being a group of 9 adults and 12 kids, three of whom were under 6 months. Jacob was the youngest, and we left the earliest, but only because the husband has been working the midnight shift and was coming to the beach off a night's work and needed to get home to rest up for the next night's work.Taking a baby baby to the beach presents all sorts of problems I hadn't thought of, most of which involved keeping him out of the sun and shaded but still warm because you can't use sunscreen on babies under 6 months and though it was 82 degrees here, it was still cool-ish in the wind and in the shade.

We haven't made as much use of the fact that we live so close to the beach as we should have in the past, but we are going to turn over a new leaf with Jacob. He will learn to love the ocean as much as I do, by golly! These are east coast beaches, of course, and are therefore much inferior to pacific beaches but one makes do. In fact, these are some very lovely beaches indeed, so we aren't complaining. One thing I like about our particular beach, Folly, is how much area there is between the road and the ocean. Even if the beach is really crowded, there seems to be enough room for everyone because of the vast expanse between where you park and where you swim. Even with over 20 people in our party yesterday on the first good beach day of the year, we didn't feel crowded at all.