Fall is officially here – marking the end of my “hot postpartum mom summer”.
Most of my maternity leave from May through mid-July was spent at home… Adjusting to the realities of caring for a newborn and toddler while trying to wrap the bare edges of my fingers around something loosely defined as a daily routine.
Towards the end of July, I was itching to get outside and do something summer-esque, i.e. go to the beach. So Charles and I deliberated the pros and cons of doing a beach trip with two and under two for a couple of days before ultimately deciding that it was worth the effort.
After a week of planning, we loaded up the car, said a prayer and our family of four hit the road.
7 hours later (for what was supposed to be a 5 hour trip), we found ourselves in the Outer Banks (OBX) – a string of barrier islands located off the coast of North Carolina. I had booked us three days at an AirBnB within walking distance to the Nags Head Sound, where calmer, toddler friendly waters can be found.
Despite all the considerations that went into planning our trip, I forgot to check the weather. This meant we ended up traveling to the Outer Banks during what was considered a record breaking heat wave. 98 degree weather from 11am-5pm that felt like 105+ degrees, if you add the humidity. Not the safest environment to take a two month old and toddler out in.
So, instead of going to the beach after checking into the BnB, our first day in OBX was all about getting settled. Driving around the area to get familiar with where all the tourist sites were, grabbing essentials from Food Lion and dinner at Sonic.
Beau was fascinated with all the vintage decor in our un-baby proofed BnB… So we spent the rest of the evening taking pictures of where everything was placed and then temporarily moving all those items out of Beau’s reach before winding down for bedtime.
Our second day, the weather was a bit milder in the morning which allowed for a walk to the Nag’s Head Sound Beach access (already crowded by 9am) and exploring Jockey’s Ridge – the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic coast and located right next to the Sound.
Thinking that we were within the window of opportunity to spend at least two hours at the beach, we came back to our BnB, prepped sandwiches and snacks and packed up our blankets and beach toys.
But as were getting ready to leave, Beau had a bit of a meltdown that resulted in him telling us ‘Nigh, Nigh’ so we put him down for his nap around 11am (he usually naps around 12:30-1pm). Then Drew had a blowout diaper which made him hungry. So I fed him and put him down for his nap as well… Which left me and Charles with the only option for action that made sense = we went to sleep too.
When Beau woke up around 2pm, the heat was peaking so we ended to grab a late lunch at seafood restaurant located right on the water. Beau was fascinated watching kite surfers glide across the water right outside our table’s waterview. Drew spent the meal asleep; strapped to my chest in a carrier with a napkin over his head to catch the crumbs.
It wasn’t until our third and final day in OBX that we finally made it to beach.
I like to think that by our third day, Charles and I had smarted up and put all the lessons learned from our first two days into practice. The top three lessons being… 1. To stick to our daily routine as closely as possible – just because we’re on vacation doesn’t mean our routine should also go on vacation. 2. Do deficit check before leaving out – have our kids been fed and/or had enough rest because nobody likes to do anything hangry or tired. 3. Be realistic with time and start getting ready to go out two hours before we actually want to go out (or do major prep the night before).
The day started with simple breakfast in bed situation while watching episodes of Baby Einstein. Followed by an outdoor walk in the shade where we let Beau play with rocks from the cobbled road to his heart’s desire. We then drove over to the Ocean side to check out the Atlantic. We all walked through the sand to dip our toes in the water and watched folks bake like lobsters in the sun for a couple more minutes before getting back in the car.
Beau fell asleep for his nap around 1pm. I put Drew to sleep around 2pm and Charles and I were zonked out shortly after. Next thing I recall is waking up to Beau patting my arm and signing for ‘water’. While looking for his sippy cup, I checked the time on my phone and couldn’t believe it was almost 4:45pm.
Realizing we had all slept for almost 4 hours, Charles jumped up to get Beau ready while I fed Drew and, an hour later, we were out the door and headed to the Sound beach. We arrived as all the daytime beachgoers were leaving which resulted in us having much of the beach to ourselves.
It was a perfectly warm and breezy evening. Drew slept while I watched Beau play in the sand, Charles fly his kite and a group of kite surfers flock around each other in the water as the sunset. Once the sun dropped beneath the horizon, we packed up our things and headed back the BnB for food, bathtime and bed.
We spent a little under three hours on the actual sand but, even though it was short, it was just enough. Charles and I felt very satisfied by the experience. After much trial and error, we had *finally* gotten our boys to the beach.
And so concludes another rookie parent story that can be simply summarized as: I had an idea, we made a decision, prepared and implemented as best we could and came out of said experience with more experience to inform future travel experiences with our kids.
An overall win for our first beach trip with two under two.
Until next post.
xo, Setarra
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