It finally happened. . .

It finally happened. . . Chase likes the beach!

For the first 9 months we lived here we tried taking Chase to the beach on and off with mostly frustrating results- he'd try to eat sand, and get mad when I'd stop him, or he'd rub sand in his eyes, and get mad when it hurt, or a wave would crash into him and scare him. I'd usually call it good after 15 minutes on the beach. And after all that we still had to walk 20 minutes home, usually with a fussy baby, and once we got home we'd get sand EVERYWHERE in our apartment. Without a vacuum, I feel like I'm sweeping up sand for days after a trip to the beach. For these reasons, we rarely went to the beach. It killed me a little, living an easy walk from a beautiful beach on a tropical island, and we dont' even go enjoy it.

Enter Chase's birthday. I took some of the extra "beach" cupcakes from Chase's party to our downstairs neighbor, Nyla, a cute single gal who is a first semester here. A few days later she came upstairs with a present for Chase. She'd gone grocery shopping in Roseau and stopped by a toy store there and bought Chase a huge collection of beach toys! A big boat, bucket, shovel, watering can and a whole bunch of shapes that can be used in the sand. Chase has a blast playing with them in our apartment.

I took the beach toys to the pool a few times, which Chase loved. About a month ago I got a text from my friend Holly saying she was taking her kids to the pool if anyone wanted to join. Chase and I packed up and headed out, only to find that the pool was closed for cleaning. A little frustrated, we decided to head down to the beach since it's only a little farther and we were all sunscreened and in swim suits. A gritted my teeth a little thinking it would never last and wouldn't be worth the mess. I was wrong- it was delightful! For the next hour and a half Chase played happily in the sand with the toys Nyla gave him. The other kids all enjoyed the toys too. I got to sit on the beach and chat with the other moms. It was a wonderful afternoon! I walked home with a big smile on my face, so happy that we live on this beautiful island!

So apparently, all Chase needed was beach toys.

Pictures from our fun day at the beach

Chase and Flat Stanley