Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | July 30, 2010

Our last day at the beach. After our last walk, Mark wanted to write Sam’s name in the sand to commemorate our trip. About 1 second after he snapped this picture, the wave you see in the bottom had the nerve to come up and totally wipe out the writing!

On the way back from our daily walk with Sam, Mark realized that we should take photos of where we stayed for posterity.  Here is the beach front side.  Mark and I and my mom had the top floor.  Our portion of the house was on the right side, as you are looking at the photo. We met the owner (and his adorable dog!) who live on the other side.

This is the street side.  We took the pictures with the sunset on the top floor deck right off of our bedroom. You can see Mark’s Pilot with the rooftop carrier on it : )

Some of our views.  This is from the top floor deck.

I think by this point, Sam was getting kind of beached out.  She didn’t really want to play.  She spent most of her time standing up staring at us and eating veggie sticks.

Since Krista and Adam were out for the last photos, we wanted to make sure we got some good ones of them too.  Mark set up his little studio again, this time on the beach front deck, and got these awesome family pictures.

All in all, this vacation was amazing.  There were moments of exhaustion, neverending packing and unpacking, and the occasional stress of tired and overstimulated babies, but what a trip!  It was everything we always wanted.  I can’t wait until next year, and the next, and the next after that to see how my little girl grows up and can experience even more things.

Thank you to everyone for sharing it with us, Rich and Sandi, Mom, Krista and Adam and Maddox, and thanks to Joe for watching Zephyr while we were away so that Mom could come with us!  We can’t wait for our next vacation — this one went so fast!

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pamelamyers | July 29, 2010

On this morning walk, Krista came with us, so we were able to get these very cute group shots.  It’s hard to believe that approximately 4 minutes later Sam was sound asleep, but she always fell asleep so quickly.

Later on the beach, playing wtih her boats.

We were able to get some cute family pictures with her grandparents.  All that was missing was her Poppy, Joe.  We missed you!

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is exactly what I always wanted, my beach vacation with my hubby and my baby.

Maddox had made a friend with a little girl on the beach, and her father was kind enough to take a picture of all of us.  I think you can tell how happy we all were!

That night, Mark wanted to try to take some pictures on one of the decks on the back of the house, with the sun setting in the background.  We were hoping to get some really nice family pictures, so he packed a “travel” studio withe some light stands, some umbrellas and some flashes. I think these pictures are better than any of those professional beach photos they are always advertising at the shore.  Everyone is much more natural and happy.

Grandmom and Sam…I am really glad that this year my mom was able to come with us to share in Sam’s first time at the beach. It made it even more special for me, and for Sam.

Me and my little one.  I still can’t belive how lucky I am, and I think it shows on my face.

This photos cracks me up. It looks like Sam is saying, “Here is my mommy, and here is my daddy.”

Sam is always gazing at Rich with an expression that I can’t even describe.  It is so cute.  I think it is because he is so tall that she doesn’t know quite what to make of someone so much bigger than her. She does love being with him though, that is for sure.

Three generations….

Sandi was putting Maddox to bed since Krista and Adam were out, and we didn’t think she’d be able to come up. We were so lucky that just as we were finishing up, she came out to see what we were doing.  The sun had almost finished setting, and it was getting late, again, but Sam was still full of smiles and happy.

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pamelamyers | July 28, 2010

More beach pics.  By this time, Sam was really having a good time and didn’t mind getting sandy at all. I was finding sand all over her, on her face, in her ears, you name it.  The funniest thing was when I took her diaper off and literally a pile of sand fell out!

The happy family again! 

Sam and Mark gazing at the ocean.  Sam really loved just looking out at the waves.

This was the first time she actually got in the ocean, and not her little ocean water pool.  I think she wasn’t too sure what to make of it because it was a little cold, and the sand kept rushing out from under her.

Having fun with daddy.

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pamelamyers | July 27, 2010

Yet another morning stroll, but this time I carried Sam.  What was I saying about her being lulled to sleep?  This was getting to be quite a habit.

And…again.  Morning nap time.  I swear, Sam did do things other than sleep on this trip!

Mark put her in the crib mid-nap.  When she woke up, I snapped these pictures. I love her little bed-head. 

This one cracks me up.  She looks like she is posing.

Our little sleepyhead : )

One thing that Sam really loved doing on this trip is trying to climb the back of the couch.  She actually got really good at it and could get all the way up to the top of the cushion. Here she is looking quite proud of herself for trying so hard.

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pamelamyers | July 26, 2010

Each morning, Mark would take Sam out around 8:00 a.m. or earlier for a walk on the beach.  Sam slept really well there, through the night actually, but she was waking up at 6:00 a.m.  A morning walk was just what everyone needed.  A few times I went with them.  As you can see, Sam was lulled by the sound of the waves, the scent of the ocean, and the cool breeze.  She always managed to fall asleep almost instantaneously.  She was always so excited to go, bouncing up and down when she saw the carrier,  but she didn’t last long to enjoy the view.

On Sam’s second day on the beach, she was a lot happier and more relaxed.  The beach had a sort of sand bar that created a pool of ocean that was perfect for the babies.  Here is Sam in her first ocean water.  She kept finding sea shells, which she loved.

Three guesses as to what happens next…

Here’s our happy family!

Krista and Adam and Maddox came to hang out in the “pool” too.

This was the first time Sam and Maddox really got to spend any quality time together. It was really adorable watching them interact.

Does this look like a happy baby, or what?

After a long day at the beach, it was off to Ocean City, NJ for the boardwalk, our favorite one down the shore.  Here is Sam hanging out with her mommy and her grandmom.

We stopped for a while for some pictures as the sun was going down.

I love the expression on Sam’s face here.  By this time it was getting pretty late, way past Sam’s bedtime, but she was pulling out the smiles!

I love this picture.  I am so lucky that Mark is such a good dad, and so devoted to his little girl.

Sam and grandmom….

On the way back home, we stopped at Wonderland on the far end of the boardwalk.  Mark and I both love the rides and always ride the ferris wheel.  This year we didn’t because we thought Sam was too small to ride anything, even something as tame as that, because if she got scared we’d sort of be in trouble, but we wanted her to see the lights.  She was so incredibly fascinated by the lights, the sounds, and everything going on.  We can’t wait until next year to take her on the merry go round.

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