Getting Out :: Lake Beach

"Deuces" she says.  She's outta here.  In my 4-month tenure as a mama, I've spent an inordinate amount of time at my house.  Partially out of exhaustion.  Partially due to a napping baby who likes her crib.  Partially due to my own neurosis that makes normal things seem hard.  Mostly due to that last one, yo.  Motherhood has introduced me to all kinds of crazy I've had hidden deep inside.  We're working through it.

Anyhow, I can stay in my house no longer.  I've gotta go places.  And so I'm attempting to challenge that crazy voice that says doing regular things is prohibitively hard.  Like going out to eat, checking out the thrift stores, and (today) hitting the beach.  I'm trying to fight the panic and expand RG's horizon's, introducing her to new and exciting things.  Today I told her we were going to the beach, and I took her to the lake.  Poor thing will likely grow up believing that the "beach" involves muddy, 92* lake water, but hey, there are worse things.

WARNING: You're about to be bombarded with cuteness.  If you can't handle it, or aren't in an environment where squealing is appropriate, you might want to forego reading the rest of this.  For you brave souls who can handle a little pudgy baby smiling at them, carry on.

In my opinion, she's never looked more southern.
If she could talk, she'd be blessin' somebody's heart right about now.
Also - she needs a bonnet.

Our excursion was fabulous.  And, surprising to me, not hard.  RG got squeezed into her super-cute swimsuit and slathered with sunscreen.  Plopped a hat on that big 'ole melon head of hers (100th percentile, if the medical profession is to be believed), and away we went!

We only stayed out for about 45 minutes, but (as I've recently learned) that's a long stretch in infant time.  

Her favorite part was when I let her stand in the "waves".  She didn't quite laugh, but she did smile a whole bunch.  Kudos to the jet ski peoples who rode by and provided us with said waves.  Who needs a tide or the moon... just give us some kids on jet skis and we've got our ocean experience.

I won't lie, dressing this little doll up is tons o fun.  It is so neat to be the one who introduces this "new soul from heaven learning to become human" (as the creepy guy at church called her, complete with a "welcome to planet earth") to all of these new experiences.  She's a blank slate.  So if I tell her that the stretch of dirty sand that butts up against the muddy waters of Lake Hartwell is the beach, she'll believe me.  She'll know no other beach until (a) she runs away from home and finds herself at the ocean, (b) she finds someone who lets her watch TV and discovers Shark Week, or (c) we introduce her to the real beach, too.

The only way she's going to know about all of the awesomeness that God has created is if we introduce her to it.  And a final little tip for myself - its not all in my house; I've gotta get her outside.  So we'll be making a concentrated effort to excurse (excursion as a verb??) more.  And we'll have pictures to share!  Any suggestions for new baby-friendly adventures to be had?

Girlfriend has some mighty powerful brow muscles.

<3 M.