the beach, mommy, the beach

Dora had her first trip to the Outer Banks a few weeks ago. Carrie's mom and dad started going to the Outer Banks in the early 60s, so this is a long tradition in her family. We were really excited about taking Dora there, but packing for travel with a baby is pretty complicated! We weren't entirely sure what we would need, and of course we took some things that we were lucky to have and others that we didn't use. Overall, Dora was very good in the car, although the trip there was a little trying because we did it all in one very long day.

Dora got to spend some more time with her Papa (Grandpa Runser) and family friend Mary Kay, and got to meet her Uncle Casey and Aunt Sharon. Uncle Casey was instantly in love with cute little Dora and spent a lot of time with her. Everyone got to see some of Dora's first smiles, and we also got to see her stick her toes in the ocean for the first time. She didn't like that very much, but hopefully next year she will. She spent a lot of time on the beach sleeping while we read, worked cross word puzzles, built a huge sand castle, and played bocce ball and horseshoes.

We went out to dinner at a fairly nice restaurant - when calling to make the reservation, the host asked me if it would be 6 adults. I explained that yes, it was six adults, plus an infant. He said, "well, if she needs to go for a walk, you'll have to go out on the patio or upstairs, because we wouldn't want to have a disturbance". We got a few rude stares when we got there, but Dora was great - she slept the whole time. Everyone passed her around and got to hold her, although she was a terror later that night...

Will post pictures of the beach trip very soon. Maybe next time we're there (or in a couple of years) Dora will say, "the beach, mommy, the beach" like her friend Isaac does.