Fourth of July, 18 Month Birthday, a Week at the BEACH!

My blog has been quiet over the last week for a good reason: we were at the beach!

This year we celebrated Independence Day AND Libby's 18 month birthday with a week at the beach together with Marmena, Granddiddy, GiGi and Papa!  We rented a family friend's condo at Crescent Beach, just south of St. Augustine and it was so nice!

We had three bedrooms, and extremely well-equipped kitchen, a balcony overlooking the ocean, three bathrooms with one large half-bath and a gigantic closet in the Master Bedroom.  Commish set up camp in the half-bath while Libby claimed the master closet for herself!  And her lucky parents got the master bedroom since she was in there.  Oh- and she got to bathe in our huge jacuzzi tub (though we never really filled it; definitely not enough to turn on the jets.  She even had her first full shower during our trip (actually showered twice, but she still prefers the bath).  Except that she did love the outdoor shower that you rinse off in at the pool - which was directly out the front door.  (Beach was out the back.)

We spent a great deal of time at the beach and the pool.  Libby LOVED both, as always.  She ran full-speed into the waves and if got was knocked down, hopped right back up and went again.  If she held her ground with a big wave, she laughed and went back in.  She somewhat enjoyed playing in the sand, but, ever interested in keeping things tidy, she helped clean up the beach!  If sand was piled somewhere (say the sand you were using to build a castle), she would pick up one handful in one of both of her hands, and carry it back to the water to toss it in.  She also located some marsh reeds (sticks!) and would toss them into the surf and chase them back and forth as they moved out and back toward the shore.  We, of course, remained close and with hands available to grab should she need our assistance.  Lots of photos below... but more text after that!

As for the pool, she worked on her swim lessons at her own choice!  She practiced kicking (only letting us hold her under her tummy while she kicked), blowing bubbles under the water, putting her face in the water on purpose, climbing up and down the stairs and the ladder, pulling HERSELF up on the side walls and jumping back off.  I can't begin to guess how many times she actually did the wall trick, pulling herself up, turning around and jumping back off, but she did it over and over and over and over again, every time we went to the pool.  Seriously- she must have done it 200 times.  She wore out six adults!

So, when we weren't at the beach of the pool, we were eating gourmet meals we created as a group, the guys frequently manning the old-fashioned, charcoal grill (which made for GREAT burgers on the Fourth and also great bonding as they rediscovered how to grill with charcoal).  We also took lots of walks on the beach, watched a few movies (when we could get the sound to work properly), and listened to the same four CD's over and over at Libby's request (good news is that they weren't just "kiddie music" CD's.)

We also toured Fort Matanzas as a group one morning, which was about four miles south of our condo.

I imagined that this would be more of a tourist "event," not having done the research myself for the visit, which required a short ferry ride.  Obviously, I brought the diaper bag, snacks, a sippy cup and our stroller!  Well... considering the ferry ride was two minutes and you were allowed only about 30 minutes at the fort itself, I may have overpacked.

Libby's favorite part was playing in the tree next to the parking lot.

We all ate dinner out on Wednesday night at 95 Cordova, the restaurant at Casa Monica, a St. Augustine shmancy hotel owned by a cousin on my dad's side.  It was delicious!  Libby discovered her GREAT adoration for fried green tomatoes (boy, I love that my girl enjoys Southern classics!)  The fresh seafood was amazing and the pesto-topped bread they brought a TON of to the table, was to die for!

Libby wore this adorable dress given to her by her sweet godparents, Mandy & Nick Arnold.

Michael and I got a date night at a great little tapas restaurant he found with great reviews online.  Cellar 6 did not disappoint!  We arrived earlier than the usual crowd, and during a huge rainstorm, so it was pretty quiet while we were there, but it was getting busier when we left.  I enjoyed a white sangria and ahi tuna tacos, while Michael had a Mediterranean flatbread pizza.  Both were great, but I think his was even better than mine!

We then took a walking tour of St. Augustine "History, Mystery, Murder and Mayhem."  As you might imagine our tour guide was rather interesting and entertaining as we learned a lot about commonly used phrases, as well as the history of St. Augustine.  Fortunately the rain had stopped in time for our tour and it had cooled off nicely for us, too.

Dad and I also had lunch one day at Columbia, while the grandmothers were supposed to have some alone time with Libby (except she slept for FOUR hours that day), and Michael and Papa were golfing.  You should really read up on the Columbia website, because I recommend it if you're ever in Tampa, St. Augustine or any of the cities in which it is located.  Speaking of BREAD, each patron got a 10 inch slice of fresh-baked Cuban bread with their meal and dad and I got amazing mojitos to go with our meals, as well!  (Oh, and did I mention that mom made homemade ice cream FOUR of the nights we were there, too?)

The grandparents did one morning/early afternoon in St. Augustine with breakfast out and their own walking tour of the city.  Pictured below is the Oldest Standing Wooden School House in America, in the heart of the city and "Authentic Old Drugstore," which we'd had a laugh about before, but according to the grandparents, was true to its' name, with various elixirs, balms, etc. and they enjoyed their visit!

The guys and I also got to tour the Castillo de San Marcos, which was way cool (if a bit warm in the middle of the day.)  You should definitely visit if you are in the area!  And Michael and I visited the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum.  Sounds cheesy and the kids would definitely love it, but we had a good time, too!  (And now we're inspired to watch a few pirate movies soon, too)!

From the top of the Castillo.

At the Castillo with Papa and an "official" guard.

The water at the beach was COLD this week (which was kind of nice since it was so hot), but due to the flotilla of jellyfish in the area of most of the week, we didn't spend as much time deeper in the water.  Michael and Papa did do a little body surfing and both were stung by the jellies.  :-(  So you can imagine we kept a pretty close eye on the areas where Libby jumped waves, etc.  At one point, Michael and I were both "spotters" so she could play safely!  We also encountered a sea tortoise in the marsh between our condo and the beach.  Libby got sort of excited for a second and touched the shell, but mainly she saved her numerous (and loud) shrieks of delight for the many dogs around the complex and on the beach.

Oh man, the Fourth was fun.  Firecrackers were going off (impressive ones) up and down the beach, with the police going back and forth trying to get them to stop.  We ran in and out of the condo to see them and watch "A Capitol Fourth" on public television.  The many fireworks and the small fire that started did not bother Libby one bit - she slept through it all (even as we started wondering if we might have to evacuate!)  All was well - and over - in a matter of a few minutes, thankfully, and that pretty much put an end to the majority of the fireworks.

But we also celebrated Libby's 18 month birthday.  We can't believe our baby girl is already a year and a half old.  She has such a sweet heart and really just wants to be happy and make sure everyone else is happy, too!  She loves animals, music, her family, water, books, figuring things out, making people laugh, swatting mosquitos (real or play), doing her same "routines" over and over, practicing until what she's doing is "perfect," toothbrushing, helping, coloring and being "wild."  She's saying a couple of phrases here and there like "I gonna go" and said a new word yesterday, "turtle."  I wonder if it was inspired by the real turtle she got to touch, but she said it referring to the turtle her mirror in the car.

We just love her so much (and the great news is that I think she's quite well aware of it.)

Happy Birthday, my "sweet B!"  Your family can't wait to see how you amaze us over the next year and a half.