Life's a Beach

On our way home from Paso Robles, the Jacksons, Iowa Smiths {with Gramma and Pop Pop}, and Akinas headed over to Cambria for some play time on the beach and lunch overlooking the surf. Unfortunately, the dreary weather, tired parents, and cranky kids made for a quick trip to the rocky shore followed by a hurried lunch. Even though the trip was not what we had envisioned, it was still fun to spend time with friends.

As we've talked about before, Noah does not do well with new situations. It takes repeated exposure for the little man to feel comfortable with anything out of the ordinary. For instance, we've been putting him in Nana and Papa's sandbox almost daily for the past month and he is just now tolerating the sand on his feet without crying. Unfortunately, Noah did not associate the beach with a very large sandbox. Once we stood him on the rocky shore, Noah instantly began to cry. He even had shoes on so his feet were not actually touching the sand, but it was still a new and unusual situation and therefor caused stress for my little man.

After some reassuring cuddles from Mamawe tried sitting him down in the sand. For some reason, this was a bit more tolerable for Mr. Stinkpot. He gave Kc just enough time to snap a few picts before starting to cry. Here Noah and I are showing Daddy-O how big the ocean is.
Before leaving the shore, I thought it was an absolute MUST to sink our toes in the sand. I quickly took my shoes off and showed Noah that it wasn't all that bad. As soon as I took his shoes off, however, he quickly disagreed with me. Mr. Man immediately picked up one foot as high as he could and curled his toes under the foot that was still touching the detestable sand. I felt like there was a flamingo standing between my legs. Noah learned the unfortunate lesson that no matter how hard you might try, levitation is just not possible for mere mortals.

All in all, it was a fun day full of new experiences, laughter, and yummy sweet potato fries. We're going to have to plan another trip to the beach...soon.