20 weeks - we're halfway to meeting Dylan! :)

Friday was another beautiful beach day for us! My shoulders were still sunburned, so I camped out under our umbrella and read my book for 4 hours while Chadmo alternately read and swam in the ocean. Friday was a much busier day on the ocean and there were all sorts of fun things to watch - sailboats (see picture below), cruise ships heading out to sea, a constant stream of people on Sea-do's, planes flying low overhead advertising buffets, personal yachts, and either big military boats or fishing boats with little dinghies coming and going from them all day. It made me wish I'd brought binoculars with me! The beach itself was much busier too, and we had a couple with two adorable little girls next to us on the beach all day - the little girls were 5 & 2 and were perhaps two of the happiest, most agreeable little kids I've ever seen. The 2 year old of course made me think of Haley-Bug and how cute she would be on the beach in a swimsuit with a pink ruffle-y butt, and the enjoyment it gave me to think of Haley and what she would be like now definitely outweighed the bittersweet. Since we never got a chance to enjoy those stages first hand, it's hard for me to imagine on my own, but it seems like there have been 2 year old girls following us everywhere on this trip - the seat in front of us on the plane ride down, next to us on the beach, at the table next to ours at dinner - helping us keep an eye on what our little Bug would be doing if she were here with us right now. I'm so thankful we have Dylan with us on this trip, because I know it would be much harder for me to enjoy imaging our Haley-Bug if I didn't have Dylan with me to keep my head up for the present/future too, making it much easier to enjoy the 2 year olds around us as opposed to being saddened by them. If I get to feeling a little bit morose, I get a nice kick from the sweet little Roo in my belly, telling me to snap out of it! :)

Seaweed attacked our beautiful beach on Friday, but luckily for the swimmers it just all seemed to be right where the tide came in. Once they waded out a little ways they were through it and back into lovely, clear water.

My toes, hiding from the sun but enjoying the breeze, salty smell in the air, and the sound of the ocean while I read a good book called "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman.

Apparently Dylan makes me EXTREMELY sensitive to sunlight. This is the kind of sunburn I managed to get from less than 10 minutes in the sun, but apparently I still managed to burn sitting in complete shade for 4 hours. Our only hypothesis is the sun reflecting off the sand, because I was burned much worse on my left side as opposed to my right (Chad was to my right - he's not burned at all and spent hours in the direct sun!) Thank goodness I wore my sunshirt or I hate to think what my shoulders would've turned into. Luckily a pharmacist friend gave me a recipe for sunburn relief: 2 oz distilled water, 2 oz white vinegar, 2 oz hydrogen peroxide, & 9 shakes of salt - apply as needed. It makes you smell a bit like a potato chip or an Easter egg, but it helps better than anything else with the burn and the pain!

Since I'm apparently not safe from the sun even in the shade or with 50 sunblock on (definitely unique to this pregnancy!), we spent a relaxing Saturday indoors. We made rice krispies, went to the mall where I did lots of fun shopping while Chadmo played lots of 'Angry Birds', went to dinner on the Intercostal Water Way and watched yachts, water taxis, and personal boats of all sizes cruise by and go under the drawbridge, and went to the movies.

Today, Sunday, we're hiding from the sun one more day in hopes that tomorrow my skin will be recovered enough that if I put on sunblock every half-hour that we can snorkel while we're in Key Largo at John Pennekamp Beach. Tonight we're meeting up with our friends Kelly & Jon who live in Miami and heading out to dinner in South Beach, which should be lots of fun! They have also graciously agreed to let us spend the night at their place tonight, putting us 45 minutes closer to the Keys for our trip tomorrow. I'm very anxious to head to their place as they have a puppy, Brutus, and I've been going through extreme pet withdrawal on this vacation! Hopefully he likes strangers. :)