The Reed Family: First Trip to the Beach...Rain, Rain, and More Rain

We made our first trip down to the beach as a family of 3 this past weekend. Unfortunately, Tropical Depression #1 went down there with us! It was a wet weekend to say the least! We knew that rain was predicted before we went, but the optimist in me kept thinking that they were going to be wrong. There have been several times that we have gone down there where there was rain predicted, and we didn't see a drop, so I was hoping that this was the case. It was not, however, but we still got some much needed rest.

The trip down there was really long, and it was not due to Hudson! He did great. The problem had to do with road construction along 65! I don't know why they decide to close a lane on 65 on a holiday weekend. I think I might have to send a nasty letter to the AL Department of Transportation! It took us 3 hours to get to Montgomery, and 6 hours to get to the beach! We were hoping to make it to Greenville by lunch so we could feed Hudson and eat lunch. However, we only made it to Prattville before we had to stop! I was hoping to not have to pump the entire way either, but by the time we got to Prattville, I knew it was going to be way too long for me to wait. So...instead of just pumping while we were stopped for lunch, we decided to keep moving and I just pumped in the front seat of the car! Hopefully no one saw me! I tried to cover up the best that I could, but it's not easy being discreet with that thing! It's funny being a mom...after you've had a baby, you just do what you have to do and you really don't care about who sees it! I think it bothered Joel more than it did me! Oh well...it was something to laugh about! Anyway, we were hoping to be at the beach shortly after lunchtime on Thursday, but we didn't get there until 4:30, so that day was pretty much over. It was raining when we got there anyway. We cooked steaks on the grill at the condo and called it a night. It had been a long day of traveling!

We woke up Friday to a cloudy and overcast day. We managed to squeeze in a beach walk and a little time on the beach before the rain arrived for the day. Hudson made his appearance on the beach for the first time. I did put him in his cute bathing suit (thanks Cameron!), but he had to wear a shirt and socks, and his hat, because it was a bit chilly down there with all the wind. He didn't stay out very long! We didn't even put his little toes in the water because it was ice cold! And, the waves were huge! I didn't want to get him near it! When the rain arrived, we went out to the outlet stores to kill some time and then headed to dinner at Mitchell's. It was fabulous!

Saturday was another rainy morning. Hudson would sleep to around 6:30 or so, and then we would feed him, and then put him back in the bed with us and we wouldn't get up until around 9:30 every morning! It was awesome! I never thought I would be able to sleep until 9:30 ever again, but luckily the rain made Hudson want to go back to sleep too! We hung around the condo all morning and then Joel's friend Derrick and his little girl stopped by and hung out with us for a while. By the time they left, the sun was starting to come out! We knew we had to get out there fast because it was going to be shortlived, so we threw on our bathing suits and got out there. We just went to the pool this time. The water was still way too cold to get Hudson in it. There were some other kids in the pool with their dads and I told Joel that he was going to have to get in the ice cold pool starting next year! He was not too thrilled about that! Anyway, we got a couple of hours of good weather in before the weather started back up again.

We woke up Sunday morning to a very stormy start! We were hoping by Sunday that the weather was going to be improving, but it was the worst day yet. The thunder and lightning were terrible! We were both so frustrated. We had caught up on all our sleep and the last thing we wanted to do was to sit around in the condo all day. If anyone knows my husband, he is not one to sit around...he's just like his dad! He has to be doing something at all times. The rain had made him relax for 3 days, and he had had enough of it! He really wanted to go home, so we decided that instead of spending another day there that we would just go home early. Plus, we are going back in two weeks, so that made the decision a little easier!

We packed up and headed out. We stopped once in Clanton to feed Hudson, but that was all. He did scream the rest of the way home after Clanton, but that was only for about 45 minutes so it wasn't too bad. We can't complain. The kid didn't make a sound for three and a half hours! All in all, we had a great trip despite the rain. It was nice to spend time with each other away from home. The rain made us relax and made us sleep so that was great. We go back the weekend of June 5th with some friends and I am so excited about that. Hopefully we can get Hudson's little feet in the ocean and pool next time!

Below are some pictures from the weekend.

Something was REALLY funny! I love this picture!

This was our first family picture on the beach. Too bad the nice man taking the picture didn't tell us that Hudson's hat was covering his face! Oh well...it's about the best we could do with the weather. It was so windy...and you can see the dark clouds in the background! We quickly packed up and headed inside after this picture!

We took the bumbo down to the beach and put Hudson in it. He liked it for a few minutes, but the wind was so terrible that it kind of took his breath away...he didn't like that very much! He then took a nap on me. I think the waves made it easy for him to fall asleep! Next time, we are going to put him in something that is covered so that we won't have to worry so much about him getting sunburned!