Peyton's 1st Beach Day

Peyton had her very first beach experience last weekend on Labor Day. Yes, I realize that she is only 12 weeks old, but this is Florida y'all and we basically grow up at the beach right from birth around here. My mom and I took Peyton out to The Lodge at Ponte Vedra for a girls' beach day.

It was so nice to finally be out on the beach for the first time in months. I basically missed out on going to the beach all summer since Peyton was born in early June. However, taking a baby to the beach is such an involved process. Thank goodness we had Grandma DeeDee with us to help.

We headed out to The Lodge bright and early to join Grandma DeeDee for breakfast at the club. 

After breakfast, we went for a little walk on the beach. Good thing we bought that BOB stroller, for all of our off-roading, beach-combing needs. That stroller can handle anything. 

We got all dressed up for lunch back at the club!

Bathing suit time! Although she looks adorable in this bathing suit, it was such a pain in the butt. She hated wearing it and trying to change her diaper in it was a nightmare. Eventually, we just called it quits and let her lay on the beach towel in just a diaper. She was much happier that way. 

Peyton was a little unsure about this whole beach thing. She was not a fan of the hat or the bathing suit. I know that taking a baby to the beach is completely unnecessary and ridiculous, but I've been dying to take Peyton all summer. I'm sure it will be much more fun next spring and summer when she actually knows what is going on and can enjoy it.

Enjoying those final sunny summer days while we still can!

Babymoon

Jared and I went on a little babymoon this weekend. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this "babymoon" phenomenon, it's basically a second honeymoon before your first baby comes (aka: just an excuse to go on a trip and relax). While a babymoon is really an unnecessary part of preparing for the birth of your first child, I totally get it. That's not to say that once the kid is born that the two of you will never relax, or be alone or go on a trip ever again; however, let's face it things are about to change drastically. This is the perfect opportunity to get away and relax, to stop thinking about all the preparation that still needs to be done, and to enjoy these final moments of it being just the two of you.

Originally, I wanted to seize this vacation opportunity to go somewhere cool that we had never been before. However, I then realized that I wasn't going to enjoy a trip like that if I couldn't go full itinerary, local breweries and wineries, tourist-mode. My normal travel style is definitely not conducive to being pregnant. Therefore, I knew that a trip like that would not be relaxing and that I would just go-go-go the entire time and end up coming home exhausted and worse off then when I left for the vacation. If I truly wanted to relax, I had to go somewhere that I had been before and didn't have a bunch of historical, tourist stuff that I would be tempted to divulge in. Alas, we opted for a weekend at my mom's beach condo in New Smyrna Beach. There's not much to do there except relax by the pool or on the beach. Perfect. Plus, it's only like an hour and 20 minutes from our house and my mom owns it so this vacation would be super cheap. Just food, gas and boarding our dogs. This truly was the best option for us because we really have no business spending a bunch of money on a vacation when we have so much necessary baby stuff that we still need to buy.

Here is a recap of our babymoon...

Friday
We drove down to New Smyrna and ate lunch at one of my favorite restaurants there on the ocean called Chases on the Beach. It has a fun, outdoor, MTV Spring Break kind of environment which makes me feel like I'm in college again. During our lunch there, we discovered that it is that time of the year again when Sam Adams Summer Ale is back on tap. This is probably my favorite beer ever. Jared ordered one and I smelled it...which sounds really weird, but since I can't drink one right now, just smelling it still satisfying. Only pregnant ladies of the world will understand that. I think that a Summer Ale might be my #1 request upon returning home from the hospital after delivering this baby. Go ahead and judge me.

By the time we made it to the condo, it was overcast and really windy out. Terrible beach weather. However, we trekked down to the beach anyways. We sat on the beach in our chairs, reading, for probably an hour until we couldn't stand being cold anymore and then went back to the condo. We hung out on the couch in the condo (thank you ABC Family for that Harry Potter marathon) until dinner. We ate at my absolute favorite restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, The Garlic.

Saturday
I forced Jared out of bed early because I could actually see a little sunshine out there! Plus, the weather forecast said that it was going to start raining around lunchtime so I wanted to attempt to get in as much beach time as possible before the storm. By the time we got ready and made it down to the beach, the sun was already gone. Fail. It was overcast and windy once again. Still we tried to make the best of it. We relaxed in our chairs for a little bit and then went on a 2 mile walk down the beach. It was windy and kinda chilly so I had to wear my cover-up. No tanning to be had here. We went back up to the condo around noon to eat lunch and that's when the storm began. For the rest of the day, it was a torrential downpour outside so we just hung out in the condo. I guess God decided that we should spend some quality spouse time together instead of frolicking on the beach. It was so very relaxing, doing a whole lot of nothing.

By dinner time, the weather cleared up so we went to dinner at The Breakers and enjoyed watching the post-storm pink sky fade away from their oceanfront deck.

Sunday
Sunshine! I was so excited when I woke up to sunshine! We only had half a day left to spend, so I wanted to get down to the beach as soon as possible. The weather was beautiful, except that it was still windy and the rain from the day before had caused the temperature to drop. However, I wasn't going to let that stop me from salvaging what was left of my beach vacation. Here Jared and I are on the beach in our chairs, in bathing suits, while everyone else walking on the beach is in sweatshirts because the temperature is in the 50s. Luckily, the sun was shining bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky so it didn't feel as cold as it actually was. Ok, I was freezing. The temperature warmed up a little as the morning went on, but I was so excited to be out in the sun that I didn't care. We went for another 2 mile walk on the beach and then it was time to head back to the condo and pack up. By the time we had to leave the beach (around noon), it was finally the perfect temperature. Of course. I was very sad that we couldn't stay longer, but we had to get back in time to pick up the dogs from boarding.

I only managed to take two pictures (both on Sunday) from our entire trip because the weather was pretty much crappy the entire time and we didn't really do anything that exciting. Despite the terrible weather, which really pissed me off, we still managed to have a fun trip together. I guess the most important thing about this babymoon was the two of us relaxing and spending time together, which is exactly what we did.

5 years ago, we went on our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic and it rained majority of the time we were there. That forced us to basically hang out, with nothing to do and invent ways to entertain ourselves together. So I guess it's only fitting that now, 5 years later, we had the same thing happen on our babymoon. It's nice to know that no matter the circumstances, we can always manage to have fun together even if we aren't doing anything at all.  

I did finally work up the courage for a bare belly bump photo! 

Cocoa Beach

Last week, I went on a little vacation with my bestie. Casey had to go to Cocoa Beach for a work conference that she was in charge of planning. Her boyfriend couldn't go with her and she was staying on the beach, so I quickly volunteered to be her date :) 

I think her colleagues were mildly terrified of us. Her co-workers from her office already think that she is a crazy, OCD, organization freak in high heels. Well, then there were two of us. Majority of the people there kept asking us if we were biological sisters. Nope, we just share a brain.

We arrived in Cocoa Beach on Tuesday afternoon to this fabulous oceanfront view from our room. 

Good thing I was shacking up with the official organizer of this conference so I could enjoy the VIP treatment. Free cheese and wine in our room upon arrival? Yes, please.  

First thing on our agenda? Beach. I had no shame in immediately handing my phone to Casey's boss and making him take this photo of us posing with our cocktails on the beach. I'm sure he was amused :)

The next day, Casey's conference went on a little field trip to Kennedy Space Center for a behind the scenes tour. I managed to sweet talk my way on to the tour even though I wasn't technically attending the conference. It's good to be friends with the person planning the conference :)

We got to visit a ton of cool facilities that normal people don't ever get to visit. We got to walk out onto the launch pads, ride down the runway where the Space Shuttle lands, see actual rockets being built up-close, and eat in the cafeteria with the NASA employees. I love visiting historical/educational sites and this nerdy experience was definitely an awesome one.
 

Beach vacation is not complete without a delicious beer and a waterfront view. Cape Canaveral has a area near the port called "The Cove" which has some great restaurants. We enjoyed our evening out there.

In an effort to continue training for my upcoming 5k run (July 27th!), I went for an early morning run on the beach. Running on the sand was a little challenging, but the scenery was beautiful so I loved it. This was a fabulous little getaway with my best friend. Thanks Casey!

Weekend Shenanigans

This week is officially the start of my summer vacation. Technically I have to go to work today and tomorrow to pack up my classroom, but the children are already gone so I don't really mind being there. It may be Monday (which we all hate), but today I am going to focus on the only two positive things about Mondays. #1: I get to link up with Sami and share my weekend with y'all. #2: A new episode of The Bachelorette tonight, which means tall glasses of wine and group texting with my girls :)

For the past 3 years, we have started a new girls' tradition in my family. Each year on the weekend that I get out of school, my mom and I drive south and my aunt drives north to meet up at the beach for the weekend. The first two years we stayed in Vero Beach, but now that my mom has a condo in New Smyrna Beach, we went there this year. 

Lunch at a fun restaurant right on the beach - Chases on the Beach

We had a fabulous weekend lounging on the beach and relaxing. Can't wait until next year!

This was the perfect way to begin my summer vacation! Have a great week :)

Memorial Weekend

I hope everyone has been enjoying their holiday weekend! I got to spend some time with my family at our beach condo in New Smyrna Beach. It was the perfect little getaway to help me get through these last 9 days of the school year. Can't wait to be back at the beach with my mom and aunt in two weeks!

 Jared and I with my brother and his wife

It was so nice to be able to relax on the beach, enjoying some cocktails and bocce ball with my family.

Jared and I really like celebrating America :) 

Dinner at my favorite restaurant in New Smyrna Beach - The Garlic

Have a wonderful Memorial Day and be sure to say a little prayer as well as a thank you to all the military men and women in your life.

In other exciting news, my oldest and dearest childhood friend got engaged this weekend! I am so excited for her and can't wait for the wedding :)

Congratulations Lindsay and David!

Memorial Day via Instagram

This past weekend, Jared and I ventured down to Ft. Lauderdale to spend Memorial Day with our friends, Mark and Christina. You know how I love to document every waking moment of my life, but I didn't want to have to lug my camera around with me to the beach and everything so I just used my phone. Thank goodness for Instagram. Especially because I just had to get some photos of Christina's adorable preggers belly!

Moscato for me, dealcoholized wine for Christina...who knew they actually made dealcoholized wine? I bet some genius pregnant woman came up with that idea. 

I told them to pose for me and this is what I got :) 

Please do not judge our husbands based on these heinous outfits. They have this amusing tradition where they always buy matching tacky tank tops when we get together for our annual beach weekend.

This is definitely my favorite picture from the entire weekend. So adorable. Remind me to do this with my husband when I'm pregnant. 

Jared and I really love America :)

After the boys went swimming in the pool during the tropical storm, it was mysteriously closed down the next day. No telling what they did while they were in it...haha just kidding :) 

Thank you Mark and Christina for a fabulous weekend!

Go Noles, Go America

Jared and I spent the 4th of July holiday weekend in Ft. Lauderdale with our wonderful friends. It was the perfect mini-vacation and a great way to kick off the month of July.

We arrived on Saturday evening and were excited to find that the McGuires had some fun, festive gifts waiting for us. Christina and I got hot pink, cropped Ft. Lauderdale tees and the boys got patriotic frat tanks that said "Go Noles Go America". These outfits should have been a definite indication as to how the rest of the weekend was going to play out :)

On Sunday morning, the boys went golfing while Christina and I lounged around the house with our books. That afternoon, Mark and Christina hosted a cookout and pool party at the house.

My dear mommy-in-law even dropped by the cookout for a visit as she was on her way to pick up Erika from the airport!

The 4th of July itself started off with a yummy breakfast at The Floridian, which included mimosas of course. Then we decided to hang around the house all day rather than going to the beach. I'm glad we decided to do this because the pool was much more relaxing and a lot less chaotic than I'm sure the beach would have been.

We spent most of the day floating in the pool with our beers...

And then floating in the canal...

As the daylight disappeared, we climbed up onto the roof of the house to watch the fireworks show. We had a fantastic view of Ft. Lauderdale and we could see fireworks from all the different shows around town.

I hope everyone had as wonderful of a holiday weekend as we did!