We’re back to our beachy selves. In fact, we are spending more time at the beach than ever. More than I care to actually. I love the beach but the eternal process of de-sanding is doing a number on our plumbing. I think Baby Bug’s scalp is going to be permanently gritty. She HATES letting me wash her hair. Every night in the bathtub is a battle of the wills. Unfortunately she seems to be much more stubborn than I am.

But I’m not complaining. I love the beach.

I love it almost as much as she does.

The poor girl got initiated today. The waves were really big and we were right at the water’s edge where the sand is cool and packed down solid. I didn’t want to be there but she kept begging me and begging me to build a castle with her.

You can only say no to those big chocolate eyes so many times before the guilt starts breaking your back. She’ll only be this young once, I tell myself. So with one eye on the incoming tide and the other on the wet sand, we set to making the best sand castle ever. Then of course I got competitive about it and started really working on my perfect turrets.

I had my back to the waves and she was concentrating on something at her feet. A big wave came in and caught us both by surprise. It only came up to my knees but she was squatting and it knocked her on her back and washed her under for a good three seconds. Sandy water rushed up her nose and it was all I could do to grab her and pull her up out of the onslaught of rushing backwater.

These things happen. I’ve been clobbered by waves more times than I can count. There was no danger of her actually getting swept into the sea but it did give both of us quite a scare. Of course she was crying and sand was everywhere: in her ears, in her eyes, coating every strand of her hair. I picked her up and tried to comfort her but that pretty much ended our fun day at the beach. She just wanted to go home.

As we picked our way through the towels and umbrellas of other beachgoers, there was more than one smiling face giving my little munchkin a thumbs up. We’ve all been there, done that. It’s part of life.

When she woke up from her nap this afternoon, do you know the first thing she asked for?

To go back to the beach, of course.