THE BEACH!!!

On May 1, 2009 we packed up the car, and took off to the BEACH!! We stayed in Deland, Florida with our good friends, Jenny and Jonathan Overholser (who are expecting a little girl in July!) Being a 7.5 hour trip, we strategically stopped every 2 hours to let Canaan "stretch."

First stop, Logan's Steakhouse where we lay out a blanket and eat some peanuts. Not long after Canaan (who was, ironically, a peanut for Halloween) began "eating" her peanut, I remembered that babies shouldn't have peanuts until after their first birthday.

After checking for hives and tightening of the chest for the next hour or so, we realized that Canaan is NOT allergic to peanuts. Crisis averted.

Next pit stop, a little visit with our good friend, Lela Jones and her cutie little girls! Marin is her "god-sister" (I guess...Tim and I are Marin's Godparents). Marin just turned a year and is walking and talking all over the place. Hope, Marin's little sister, was just born and is a perfect sleeping baby! In this video, you can see Canaan really "stretching her legs" after a long car ride. Also trying to eat a leaf.

Finally we make it! On Saturday, we decide to visit the DeLeon Springs, natural springs that are seriously cold, but loads of fun.

After getting lubed up with 195 SPF sunscreen, Canaan decides if she's going to risk the Arctic Springs.

She tries to pull the, "I just ate...I can't swim for at least 20 minutes! I'll get a cramp."

A plastic starfish doesn't count, sister.

So instead of "slowly easing your way into the water," we decide on the "dunking" method--the fastest and surest way of ensuring your kid LOVES to swim! You will see in the following video that after being plunged into the water, she immediately wants to keep "swimming." Disregard the cry--she loved it after her body's temperature dropped to acclimate to the water!

After a frigid dunk in the springs, her Daddy wanted to really push the limits of Canaan's "Extreme Adventure" personality--we call this the Peanut Toss.

You can see that Canaan is simply enthralled with her experience at the Springs. Or, she could be marvelling at how white her parents are.

But not for long, lady--beach time, here we come!

On Sunday, we load up the car and head to the BEACH! Canaan's very first beach experience!! In the following video, we chronicle Canaan's first encounter with sand--"gish" is a word she uses to say, "This feels funny," or "That doesn't quite taste right," or "WOW, this is FANTASTIC!" or "Hold onto the cat, Mom, so I can get a handful of fur." In this instance, "gish" meant, "WOW, this is FANTASTIC!" Canaan loved the sand!

It wasn't long before she did taste her first sample of sand. She got a nice, full handful and popped that sucker right in her mouth.

"Gish" in this instance meant, "That doesn't quite taste right."

Obviously she forgot that lesson, because she had a few handfuls throughout the day.

Which is why her mother couldn't really get the "tan" she had hoped for on her "beach vacation." Reading a Francine Rivers book, eating cheese popcorn and drinking a nice cold beverage isn't the same when you have a 10-month old at the beach.

Burying her in the sand bought us about 15 minutes.

Next stop at the beach...the ocean of course. So we head down to the ocean, cameras and video cameras in tow to document Canaan's first ocean experience. You will see in the video that Canaan realizes that this is a bit bigger than the "tub experience". The waves are faster, bigger, and there's a mean under-tow.

"I wasn't prepared to body surf that wave," Canaan is thinking. "I'll catch the next one."

So she practices catching waves in the baby pool.

Baby pools at the beach are also useful for washing sand out of the mouth, eyes, ears, bathing suits, and cold beverages.

Her Daddy decides to teach her how to really catch waves. Canaan soon becomes a pro.

First Beach Experience: priceless.

First Steeplechase

Steeplechase: the women wear big hats and cute dresses while the men drink a lot and bet on which horse will break the bank.

The babies do it all at Steeplechase.

Canaan wore a big hat, along with her Aunt Cassie and her mother. As well as an extremely cute dress.

Next, it was time to decide on which horse was going to be the money-maker.

Canaan had a feeling about this one.

Much to her chagrin, Canaan soon realized that this horse was actually a small pony that just hung out in someones tent. The real money-makers were 29 times that size. Quickly, Canaan placed her bet on number 7.

"Go, horse, go! Mama needs a new hat!!"

Just kidding. We didn't bet on any horses. That wasn't in the Dave Ramsey Budget.

Canaan did, however, finish the day with a nice, stiff drink.

So as you can see, Steeplechase often ends in nakedness--after a long, hot day in the sun, everyone saying how cute you are, trying to get a feel for the winning horse, and downing a couple sippy cups, who wouldn't want to celebrate their first Steeplechase with a little bit of nakedness? (Andre, don't look...)