Beach Days

We went to the beach on Labor Day and I was reminded why we pay so much to live in Hawaii. We didn't go until about 3 pm and we packed a picnic dinner.

It was a gorgeous day and was just perfect! The boy had a wonderful time playing in the sand and chasing waves. He has now reached the point where he is not afraid of the water, which means I'm at the point of being afraid of him being near the water. If he gets distracted, he'll just stand there, back to the waves, not even paying attention until a big one comes and knocks him down. Of course he was only in 6 inches of water so he was in no danger, and we were two feet away, but still! I'm trying to teach him the "never turn your back on the ocean" rule and have not yet been too successful. He seemed like he was doing better until a cute little two year old came along and my boy decided to "teach" him how to play. Well, teacher learned a lesson pretty quick when in the midst of his instructions he was abrubtly lifted off his feet!

My Dad and Mom are so good with him. Mom couldn't come that day, which was a bummer, but Daddy and the Boy had a great time. They marked the wave heights as the tide rose, chased waves, wrote letters in the sand, built sand castles, built a sculpture of Thomas, and generally had a day any 3 year old boy would delight in.

When it started to cool off, I dragged the boy off to the showers to try to remove some of the sand that was caked all over him. Beach showers are notoriously cold, so he was not pleased with me. I think this was the first time I used the phrase, "If you want to dance, you have to pay the piper" on him.

Then it was dinner time! Why do fried chicken and watermelon taste a hundred times better at the beach? This was the first time the Boy had drummettes and he was really happy with what he decided was chicken made just for his size. He promptly declared himself to be a lion and then attacked the little things with an enthusiasm that would make any carnivore proud. He stayed in his lion state until we told him that only little boys ate Doritos and banana bread. Then the boy was back, and the banana bread disappeared at high speed. The beach really gave him an appetite.

We cleaned up and packed up, leaving out just the chairs, which we turned in the direction of the sunset. It was gorgeous. The horizon was cloudy, so there were tons of pinks, purples and oranges. It was a strange sunset, very subdued at one moment and blazing colors the next. We stayed until it was gone, trying to draw the beauty of it into a peaceful and relaxing moment. Unfortunately, the large family reunion group next to us chose this moment to begin a loud round of the "Hokey Pokey." This marked the first (and I hope, last) time I have ever heard a group of 40 some adults sing that many verses -- they even put their eyebrows in and shook them all about.

We decided that the moment of peace was gone and headed for the car. But it was a really fun day!

So Labor Day was a good day!