Blogger Beach Bash in Avalon, NJ

I was super thrilled to be invited to the first Blogger Beach Bash hosted at the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ.

And the reason was purely selfish. My son is 3 and I hadn’t taken him to the beach ever before. What better way to do it than with a bunch of bloggin’ friends!

Unfortunately, the X-man ended up being terrified of the ocean and after the first ankle-deep wave he would have nothing to do with it. He wouldn’t even go near the wet sand. And it was H-O-T. And we traveled 2.5 hrs to get there. And I bought a swimsuit (on clearance for $50), a swim suit cover, beach towels, toys, etc. Ugh!

Then he had to go potty and we had to trudge all the way back to the hotel. That’s when I started to overheat, get cranky, and was about to pack it up wondering why I wasted my time and money. Tried to call the Other Half for moral support and basically ended up yelling at him for [being a douche and] not coming. You’ve been there, right? I’m not the only one, right? Some days this mommy stuff really gets the better of me.

Regrouped and cooled off in Luigi’s Pasta restaurant which is attached to the Golden Inn and served the breakfast we mostly missed earlier due to traffic.

Headed back out just in time to see Sandman Matt from the Travel Channel’s hit show, Sand Masters, start his sand castle building lesson and demo. We also received The Can You Dig It Sand Tool Super Deluxe Sand Sculpting Kit. This kit has everything you need to build awesome sand castles like the masters, including an instructional DVD.The DVD might be the best part of the kit if you are sand-castle-building-clueless like I was. We’ve watched it twice. It’s cheesy but full of tips and super helpful.

I can’t wait until the X-man is older and not afraid of the ocean. I’m imagining lots of kickass sand castle building in our future!

After learning the art of sand castle making we headed back to the Golden Inn for a beach side lunch. Next was the Golden Inn’s pool area.

It was X’s first time in a big pool (I know I’ve totally been depriving the poor boy). I was prepared for a big freak out and thought we’d be leaving soon because I took him to the Y a few months ago thinking we’d try swim lessons. He was terrified of the pool then. I mean shaking and grabbing on to me for dear life even though we were just taking a tour.

Well, guess that’s all gone because he had NO fear and we stayed in the pool for HOURS! Seriously. I was shocked. And as a nice bonus I could actually chat with other moms for a few minutes here and there as we moved about the big pool or sat in the kiddie pool. The pool ended up being the best part of the day.

Worth all the earlier stress and trouble?

As we were heading back to the car: “Mommy, I’m going to miss the beach.”

Totally!

Except next time remind me to treat myself and stay over a night or 2. In fact, I think I need to head back to the Golden Inn for one of the Girlfriend Getaway weekends and REALLY treat myself!

First time with his toes in the sand!

Sand Master Matt Long at work.

Learning from the expert! Sandman Matt teaches us the art of sand sculpting.

Shout out to the other event and goody bag sponsors:

The Painted Home
Jordan Schneider Financial
Suddenly Safe & Secure Systems
Visit AC
Hallmark
Honest Tea
Pop Chips
Truly Custom Cakery
Bai Drinks
Boogie Wipes