Happy Mother’s Day! How’d you spend your day? My day was my idea of perfection.

Originally DadJovi made brunch reservations at a fancy hotel. That would have been nice but we’re going to dinner at a different fancy hotel in a couple weeks for our anniversary so I thought we should save our money and do something a bit more fun anyway.

So I pulled the Mother’s Day card to do something I always want to do but that we never seem to get around to doing — spending the day at the beach.

After DadJovi and E went out early to get my Starbucks (hazelnut skim latte, natch) and breakfast from our favorite local diner, we got our stuff ready and headed east to the World’s Most Famous Beach — Daytona Beach.

Daytona tends to be our go-to beach. DadJovi grew up there (just a block off the beach … lucky) and his dad still lives there. We thought about going somewhere else since his dad is out of town but why mess with a good thing?

Our little one is a beach baby. In fact, she really learned to walk on the beach (I highly recommend it — falling doesn’t hurt on the sand!). This was our first time hitting the beach this year and she picked up right where she left off … soaking in every single second.

Today, she even got to try something new for the very first time — boogie boarding!

 

I think she’s totally ready to hang 10. Hey, Kelly Slater is from just down A1A so I think Florida kids are just born knowing what to do in the water. We’ll save the longboards for another day.

Meanwhile, on the beach, I was spending some quality time with my special ladyfriend Tina Fey. I finished up “Bossypants” today. A full review is coming, but here’s a sneak peak — LOVED IT in 1,000 different ways. Would it be weird for me to start trying to bump into her in New York because I think we could be friends?

After the Toddler X-Games, E was ready to snack and warm up (it was a bit cool on the beach today — 83-degree weather when we got there and 72-degree water. Personally I loved it, but then again, I wasn’t soaking wet in the wind). So she made me wrap her up in a towel and feed her Goldfish. I thought I was the one who was supposed to be catered to today.

Then it was beach walk time. We wanted to walk down to the lifeguard station and see what the water temperature was today and E. wanted to collect some seashells. Bucket in hand, we headed down the beach. It was a slow walk …

Last summer, we got spoiled during our vacation to Anna Maria Island with all the big, gorgeous shells. Daytona’s shells? Still pretty but not so big. In fact, the majority are teeny tiny.

After another trip into the ocean, it was time to eat! We headed south toward Ponce Inlet and did a swing by its gorgeous lighthouse (the tallest in Florida, in case you like trivia like me).

Then we headed over to one of the best beach bar/restaurants anywhere: Down the Hatch. I mean, how can you not love a view like this to eat by?

This view wasn’t so bad either. Mmmmm, mango daiquiri.

And yes, we’re totally those people who pass the phone over to the kiddo in restaurants now. You know what, we had a lot of family time on the beach, so if she wants to spend some alone time learning how to draw her letters from the fun friends of Super Why! then I’m totally OK with that.

Besides, her attention was quickly drawn to probably her favorite thing on earth — LIVE MUSIC.

Getting her away from a dance floor is no easy task. That’s OK, I had other things to do.

All in all, not a bad way to spend Mother’s Day. I definitely missed spending the day with my own momma and of course we both still miss DadJovi’s mom like crazy, nearly 4 years after her death, but it was also nice to start our own tradition. I think this will be my new Mother’s Day demand request.

Hope your day was just as relaxing as mine!