We’d been wanting to take Maya to the beach at least once this year, but hadn’t quite worked out the logistics. Luckily, our friend Holly HAD worked out the logistics, rented a condo in South Padre for a week, and offered us the spare room. And that is how in mid-September, we came to be taking our first long-distance road trip with Maya for her first-ever beach vacation.

Maya at South Padre – almost 10 months old

The drive to South Padre is pretty easy; once you get past San Antonio, there’s really no traffic (at least in the off season – can’t speak for spring break). We whipped out the big convertible car seat for this trip so Maya would have a little more room to stretch out, but even so, by the end of that drive, she and that car seat were through with each other.

The condo was pretty lively with Holly and Chris and their kids Ruby (age 4) and Herbie (age not-quite-2) and the three of us. I think Maya was in heaven. There were other kids there for her to watch and interact with, Mom and Dad didn’t enforce vegetable quotas or bed time, and there was a pool practically right outside the door.

It’s right in the middle of hurricane season and there was at least one, if not multiple incoming tropical storms, so the water was pretty rough for most of the few days we were there. We did manage to make it to the beach and play in the water one day though. Maya really likes sand. When we put her on her blanket at home, she’s a little wary of crawling out into the grass. Not so with sand. She hauled ass off that blanket at speed, not stopping till she was all fours on sandy beach. I wish I could tell you that no sand was consumed during that outing, but I’d be lying. Not only did she eat it, I think she enjoyed the flavor.

Playing in the Gulf was a little different than playing in the pool. We didn’t really let the waves splash Maya’s face much, but she still never quite made her peace with the water rushing at her all crazy like that.

Lounging

Given the sometimes rainy weather and the choppy water, we spent a good deal of our time in the condo pool. The kids LOVED it. Maya spent hours relaxing in her little floating thing and playing with Ruby and Herbie’s toys.

We had a great meal at Gabriella’s. The pizza is delicious, they have a nice beer selection, and they seem to be really tolerant of small children.

Can you tell they’re related?

I’m a little sad that we didn’t get to see the beach a bit more, but all in all, it was a good trip. Herbie, Ruby, and Maya provided most of the entertainment. The vibe was distinctly low-key, which was perfect for us. We only stayed a few days, so we didn’t have a chance to get vacation-with-an-infant fatigue. I think we’re already planning to go again next year, figuring a kid who can move around a little more on her own might have a better time playing in the water.

We have a problem with one of our cats. Verbo has a terrible habit of chewing on things, to the point that she consumes pieces of whatever she’s gnawing on. Many of our paperback books have covers with pierced or missing corners. Most of our electrical cords have teeth marks in them (scary, right?). Maya has lots of toys that used to have tags on them and now have shredded nubs instead.

Maya – 9 months old

We received a little tutu in a box of hand-me-down clothes and had been dressing some of Maya’s stuffed animals in it. One day, we noticed that big chunks of it were missing. Verbo strikes again. We figured we better dress Maya up and get her picture before the tutu was completely consumed.

Maya – 9 months old

This also let us show off Maya’s first moves toward being a proper biped. It took her a little while to figure out crawling, but now she’s a force to be reckoned with. Working in the office during the day, I’ll hear the telltale slap-slap-slap of an approaching crawler. Soon after, a grinning Maya will crawl around the corner and pop her head in. She can also climb up the stairs (but not down yet). She can pull herself up to standing and even manages to tentatively cruise along the furniture from time to time.

Maya – 9 months old

As always, it’s so much fun to watch her figure things out. It wasn’t that long ago that we were wondering if she’d ever learn to crawl. Now it’s hard to slow her down.

In the hundred degree heat of a Texas summer, there is no reason to dress a baby in anything other than a diaper and onesie / snapsuit / creeper / whatever … except that babies in overalls are beyond cute, especially when they get a hold of their parents’ straw hat.

Maya – 8 months old

I feel bad for Maya. She really wants to be outside, but between the heat and her band, it’s a little too much most of the time. Sometimes though, we ditch the band and hang out in the yard anyway.

Over fourth of July weekend, we took a trip to Alabama so Maya could visit her Lolli and Pop Woods and her Aunt Darci, Uncle Will, and cousin AP. We were worried that now that Maya was a little more alert to her surroundings that it would be harder to get her through the airport, but need not have bothered. Apparently she’s a seasoned traveler now, accustomed to the ins and outs of air travel.

Maya – 7 1/2 months old

We tried out a new plan. We’d fly out to Alabama around Maya’s bedtime to see if that would help us breeze through the flight. It worked well. She ate and slept as expected, making for a trouble-free trip. The problem is that when we got to Harry and Helen’s house, Maya had just woken from a good long nap and was ready to par-tay. Mommy and Daddy, on the other hand, were ready to crash.

Maya and Lolli

It had been a very wet summer in Homewood, and our visit was no exception. Given that, and everyone’s generally quiet mood, we were homebodies for the majority of our visit. Maya is scared of the noise my blender makes, so I wasn’t too keen on keeping her out past her bedtime to experience the sights and sounds of Independence Day anyway (next year will be better, I think).

Maya and Pop

While we had a good visit, we still didn’t have the presence of mind to take too many pictures. We do have a few of Lolli and Pop with Maya, taken the very last day we were there. There’s only one with Aunt Darci and cousin AP, and we didn’t manage to get any at all with Uncle Will.

Our little family!

Darci took some family photos for us, and they turned out really nicely! I think the only other time before this we’ve even tried to get a family photo was Christmas, and none of us had a great deal of energy or enthusiasm for it.