Peyton's first trip to the beach

Today was the perfect day for a beach day! With sunscreen, rice mats, towels, and sand toys in tote we made the short walk to our closest beach. We have taught Peyton how to say "beach," and that's all she could talk about when the ocean was in sight. We loaded her up with sunscreen and dipped her toes in the sand and water. She LOVED it! She did not, however, love the sand anywhere else on her body. At first we thought that the beach was going to be meltdown city because of the sand, but then we realized we could use it to our advantage. We placed Peyton at the edge of a rice mat with her sand toys and sand easily accessible. Then, Micah and I were able to play with her from the comfort of our beach chairs where we soaked up the sun. The thought of crawling off of the mat into the sand never crossed her mind...or at least if it did she never acted on it. She ate lots of sand and salt water, and created beautiful artwork in the sand; then she fell asleep on daddy's chest listening to the waves crash on the shore. If the sight of the Kauai ocean, palm trees blowing in the wind, and your little one snuggled up in daddy's arms sound asleep isn't enough to make you feel blessed I don't know what is. It truely was a perfect afternoon.