Goodnight, Rhode Island.

It's taken a full week.

To come down from vacation high.
And make my way back to reality.
A reality with a new outlook.
And new exciting things ahead.

But for the sake of memory.
I'm giving our first family vacation one last shout out.

Because I failed to share the best part of our trip.
Is it really a vacation without the beach?
I think not.

And a quick side note on that thought.
This trip definitely did a number on our psyche.
We were overcome with nostalgia and memories.
The moment we landed, we desperately missed our old landscape.
The hills.
The trees.
The coast.
The proximity to everything beautiful and fantastic.
Federal Hill.
Newport.
Quahogs and Chowder.

*Sigh*

Needless to say, we were thrilled to rent a house on the beach in a small town on Cape Cod.

Unfortunately, Lyla was doing some major teething the first two days, so our first couple beach outings were not as I'd hoped.

Our delicate little lady prefers pampering over roughing it.
So, the gritty East Coast sand was not her thing.
The 95 degree weather and 75% humidity wasn't her thing either.
And the moment she tasted the salt water?
She immediately demanded a nice refreshing *heated* pool.
Not to mention all the on-and-off-with-a-wet bathing-suit nonsense.
Not having it.

However.
By day 3, she was practically begging to beach it up.
She loved it.
It just took us a couple of days to figure out what made her most comfortable.
Which really was just an umbrella for some shade and a Happy Tots squeeze pack.
And some playtime in the water.

We also did some beach exploring.
Found a couple of seashells on our morning beach walks.
Played in the sand.
And practiced our kicking that we learned in swim lessons.

Of course Lyla's "kicks" are one at a time.
Very gentle kicks.
And intermittent.
Just like they were in the womb.
Typical Lyla fashion.

All in all, the beach was the best.

Can't wait to do it again.
Although, my bet is Ly is rooting for a heated pool and some AC.