A sure way for me to feel relaxed, is to hit the beach. Works every time.  I’m not sure exactly why.  The combination of sun, wind, sand and water is some sort of magical concoction for me.

We have a group of friends that often get together for some beach volleyball and last weekend we finally made it out for the first time this year.  I thought it would be so fun to introduce Max to the beach.  He could experience sand and feel the cool ocean on his little feet.  And we’d capture it all with some great photos and video.

But, things took a turn after about 30 minutes of laying out the blankets.  Max ended up in a crying fit for most of our visit due to an unexpected visit from the lovely gas fairy.  I don’t know if it was the carrots he was introduced to that morning?  Or the extra bottle of formula (in lieu of breastmilk) he had because we were out for the day?  But something didn’t sit right and we spent most of our beach visit overcoming the gas episode.  Our poor friends were probably like, Umm…who invited the crying baby?

Somehow I still walked away from there feeling relaxed.  But poor Max may grow up not really liking the beach, and forever wonder why.  So, we’ll definitely have to get back out there and make it a fun experience for him.  Sans gas.