Kita and I wait for the rush hour to pass...I'll pause so you can chuckle and shake your head at our naive optimism...and then we pack our kids up, switch on the Garmin (well, I switch on the Garmin and she follows me best she can through the freeways), and head out.
Last week we were ever so blind-leading-the-blind, messing up our parking permits and desperately searching for a bathroom. Garmin took us to the 2-hour parking lot, which requires taking note of your parking space and then popping coins into a machine, pressing buttons to get the correct amount of time on your ticket and then going back to your car to put the ticket on your dashboard. Please. With four kids and all the accouterments they require for a trip to the beach, we're lucky to have even stepped foot on the beach at all with the time allotted to us.
And speaking of the beach, the little ones have dubbed it "the desert walk" because it's about a quarter mile from the second you step onto the sand to when you get to the hard-packed sand-castle worthy sand. I just go ahead and count the walk to and from the water, Ethan and three bags in hand, as my workout for the day when we go. It seems fair.
The water feels like home to me. I grew up in the Frozen North (as described by Honduran Husband), otherwise known as New Hampshire and the beach water up there is tough to handle anytime before August. The water here is very similar and I can say with certainty that when Husband goes to the beach with us, I will be the one jumping waves with Ethan while Husband sits on the blanket, shaking his head at his "polar bears". Ethan and I love the cold water. We spent a lot of time jumping in the waves. He is definitely my son (as if there was any question of that?)
So here are some pictures of the little man and his friends, Evie, Lucy and Nonie, adapting to live as beach bums quite nicely...
Taking "here's mud in yer eye" literally...
8 comments:
What do you mean that you want to swim before August?
Glad the desert works for the kiddo. You'd think the loose sand would make his little legs seem like you're going backwards.
We just stayed at a hotel in Bangor, ME and every hotel, from the Motel 6 to the Sheraton have indoor pools...heated... over chemicaled.
We did hit the beach on the Island (Swan's Island, ME) and let the kids run around the beach, but not go in the water higher than their knees. I went wading and my ankles hurt from the cold. Maybe next week, the water will have warmed up enough for the kids to go in. Adults? Heck no! We'll distract the kids with Sand Dollars, periwinkles (sea snails), mussels, and rock wanderings (seaweed is wicked slippery when wet) (photos from last year are on the website)
What fun for you guys!!! We went to Maine this summer and Charlie charged right into the water shoes and all, even though the air temperature was only about 65. Crazy kids!
"Ethan sprung, Athena-like, from Husband's forehead." made me snort. Smart sarcasm is the best kind.
See? You're becoming a Cali girl already! Could fake boobs and bleached blonde hair be far behind? (Does Ethan know how to say "dude" yet?)
Definitely, the child is also your husband's. No way to deny that. He just looks like a wonderful combination of the two of you.
Looks like Ethan is already in love with California, with two cute chicks to entertain him!
i love the one of the three of them holding hands. i am so glad that you have both garmin and a camera! oh and beach toys too. one of these days i'll be a more organized beach goer, and maybe even figure out the parking machine...
Adorable!!
Also, I am SO JEALOUS!!!
Beautiful kids, a lazy summer in freakin' Santa Monica. You are going to be a hard one to like.
Nothing feels more like summer than looking at pictures of dirty happy kids!
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