Thursday, January 29, 2015

Trip to Tampa Bay: Exploring Clearwater


At the end of June Dallas had a training meeting in Tampa, which required him to spend a couple nights.  We figured it would be fun to join him, even if we wouldn't be able to see him during the day.  I've grown pretty comfortable taking Daxton on adventures by myself.  Plus any time we can get with daddy is better than none.  We decided to drive up and spend the first night in Clearwater before meeting up with Dallas.  Clearwater is located right on the gulf of Mexico and is name to some of the most incredible beaches in the United States.  It's also about 30 minutes west, give or take, from Tampa so it was the perfect first stop for our adventures.  Daxton and I arrived a little before dinnertime so we jumped into the three different pools available.  They even had fun pool toys for him to play with.  We may or may not have swam well into the night...

The next morning as daddy went to training in Tampa, Daxton and I headed to the Clearwater beach.  I can honestly say that I have NEVER felt such amazingly soft sand.  It resembled the feel of powdered sugar at times.  The one downside was that it was packed.  I'm sure the crowds aren't as bad outside of the summer months, but since it was the end of June it didn't matter that it was a week day.  We came with our own beach gear so we walked straight up to the front, near the small crashing waves to set up camp.

Walking towards the beach was a bit daunting seeing all the cabanas lined up, but luckily almost all were empty (when we arrived...)


We were at the beach for a little over an hour before the crowds started to arrive.  Since we had set up camp super close to the ocean, the crowds weren't too bad till after lunchtime.  Daxton didn't seem to mind either way.  He immediately ran out into the waves, running back and forth, collecting shells, and talking to anyone who would look at him.


I love this little beach bum so much!


After playing in the sand a couple hours, a sweet little girl asked to join Daxton and I, since we were building sand castles together.  I had her point out her mom to me and made sure her mom knew where she was.  It was pretty sweet to see the girl talk with Daxton and show him the "proper" way to build sand castles.  The two of them played together the next hour, finding shells, running in circles, chasing birds, and throwing sand back into the ocean.  It was pretty funny and sweetly awesome that he can make best friends so quickly.

 After his buddy left, Daxton was pretty tuckered out.  He crawled up into his stroller asked for some snacks and then told me he wanted to take a nap!  Seriously, does it get much better than that?  He ended up sleeping for over an hour as I relaxed listening to the waves and reading a good book.  To say it was heaven would be an understatement!  After he woke from his nap, we played for a little while longer and then packed everything up and headed to Tampa.  We ended up checking into the Grand Hyatt, where Dallas was in training, covered in sand and dripping wet from our swimsuits.  I'm sure the staff was pretty impressed with us!

That smile continues to melt my heart!

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