The Gaga Diaries

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but today Baby Gaga, Grammy Gaga and I spent the second day of Spring together at the beach.  And it was hot!  And not hot as in not cold, but more like it-could-have-been-the-middle-of-July hot.  

We weren’t the only ones with the bright idea to head to the coast.  Even though the boardwalk was still mostly boarded up for winter (hard to remember it is MARCH, after all!), the parking lots were pretty packed.  

But there were spots available (which would not have been the case in the middle of July), and the best part was that we didn’t have to be a slave to the meter since there is free parking until April 1st! Woohoo! 

On our drive in, we stopped to enjoy our first slices of the season of what we locals like to creatively refer to as “Beach Pizza”.

It may not look like much, but it is one of my most favorite things in the world! I wish I could describe Beach Pizza to you and why it is unlike any other pizza you’ve ever had in your life.  Think Sicilian style, think sweet tomato sauce, think sparse amounts of cheese.  Wow.  That description actually makes it sound pretty mediocre at best, but you’ve got to trust me on this one and definitely stop by either Tripoli’s or Christina’s to try some yourself to some Beach Pizza if you find that you’re near at the beach near Hampton, Salisbury or Seabrook.  

Baby Gaga was a fan and will be back for many more slices over the course of his lifetime, I am sure. This didn’t come as a huge shock to me though.  He is my son, after all. Love of Beach Pizza is in his blood! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking along the shoreline, dipping our toes in the chilly Atlantic.  

We also stopped to enjoy some soft serve and bumped into the Governor of New Hampshire along the way.  I didn’t stop to snap a picture with him, but just Google John Lynch if you really care. :) That soft serve, however, was deemed photo-worthy… 

Mmmmmm. 

Someone is loving his first early tastes of Summer this year! 

And unlike in Cancun, Baby Gaga didn’t seem to mind the sand at the playground. 

Ending our day with a fresh seafood dinner with Grammy and Bampy Gaga was the icing on our cake.  Best second day of Spring ever!! 

I guess you could say sometimes I do things a little backwards.  While I never went to Cancun for spring break in college, I did go there for nine glorious days with my baby and my husband for our first official family vacation last week. 

We actually co-vacationed with Baby Gaga’s cousins and uncles, as well.  

Believe it or not, if you time things right to ensure you miss MTV and all the college coeds, Cancun can be quite the perfect place for a tranquil, rejuvenating, family-friendly getaway! 

While in Mexico I learned that vacationing with a baby is definitely a lot different than when it used to be just Papa Gaga and me.  

We slowed waaaaay down and did a lot more vegetating and a lot less go-go-going than we used to.  

We also returned home almost as pale as when we left.  We definitely sought out shade at all costs for the especially fair-skinned, redheaded member of our family! 

Our first vacation together sure was a lot different than our Papa Gaga and my previous vacations as a twosome used to be.  While a part of me was a little sad that we didn’t get to experience beachside massages, swimming with dolphins, or rappelling down ancient pyramids, more of me was thrilled to be able to witness the looks on our son’s face as he dipped his toes in the Caribbean Sea, listened to a mariachi band during dinner, or tried papaya for the first time. 

One successful family vacation down and hopefully many, many more to come!

Last week we took a drive to the coast one night when we were craving lobster rolls and fried seafood for dinner.  There’s not much left of summer, so we figured we need to sneak in as many opportunities for seafood, beach pizza, ice cream, and sunsets over the ocean as possible.

Dinner lasted longer than we expected and before we knew it it was past 9pm. Driving back home along the water we noticed large groups of people congregating on the sand.  Then we looked up and realized why.

I pulled over immediately.  Have I mentioned that I’m obsessed with fireworks? And apparently I’m not the only one.  Someone was wide awake in the back and literally CRANKING his head from side to side trying to see out the window and figure out what was going on outside.  If there was ever before any doubt as to whether Baby Gaga was really my child (and there has been — have you seen that red hair?!), it has been confirmed. He clearly shares an equally strong passion as his mama does for the things that make loud noises and pretty colors in the night sky.

Even though it was a whole two hours past his bedtime, we couldn’t let the little guy miss out on seeing his first fireworks display.  It was much too loud outside since we happened to pull over right where they were setting everything off on the beach.  So instead we pulled him into the front with us and he had a grand old time watching the show from one of the comfiest, quietest seats in the house. 

Eyes as big as saucers.  Neck craned. Absolutely mesmerized. And for the first time in my history of fireworks experiences, I’m not sure I looked up at the sky once.  There’s something about watching the world through your child’s eyes.  Suddenly those once so magical fireworks just seem like fireworks compared to that. 

Weather.com said it was going to be 97 in the city today, so Baby Gaga and I picked up Grammy and headed to the coast in an attempt to beat the heat.  So much for that idea… 

Despite the triple digit temps and my underestimation of the challenges of bringing a 5-month old who’s not supposed to wear sunblock yet to the ocean, we still had a fun first afternoon at the beach with the little guy.

We people watched on the sand.

Hey, ladies.  How YOU doin’?

Splashed in the chilly Atlantic water and then stared at Baby Gaga while he looked adorable napping in his little Baby Hut. 

When we got back to the city this evening the scorching sun had been replaced by stormy clouds.  Mother Nature apparently didn’t like our Thursday night dinner / playgroup’s plan to have a picnic in the park.  Oh well.  We still had a great time catching up with everyone indoors. 

The setting is always secondary anyway when there’s this much cuteness distracting you!

I’m a beach girl.  Some of my most favorite memories growing up include summers renting out an ocean cottage with the whole family — fireworks, outdoor concerts, staying up way past our bedtime, fried dough, water slides, sand castle competitions.  When I finally got my license in high school, the beach was one of our first destinations — roof down, music blaring in the Jeep. It was one of the places I brought the man who I would later marry on a first date, walking hand in hand on the sand even though it was the dead of winter.  Years (and years and years) later he popped down on one knee in the sand at an ocean thousands of miles from where we first met, but something about the crashing waves felt comfortingly familiar and I said, “For real?! FOR REAL?! YES!!!” at the beach. 

For all these reasons and many more, I was so excited to finally introduce my son to the sandy shores of the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on Saturday.  

With those blue eyes, that red hair, and such fair skin, Baby Gaga is definitely going to need dozens of hats and boatloads of sunblock whenever we’re at the beach. 

But I hope to lay the groundwork for him to have his own special relationship with the ocean and that he may find it as soothing and fascinating as I do.