Beach Days
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.
30 Comments
cindy
I love the resilience of a child!
I remember the first time I was swept by waves as a teeny tiny kid – I was terrified! But I still remember wanting to go back!
bethany actually
Attagirl, BB. Get right back up on the horse. :-)
I love the contrast between the last two photos.
Kaili
Good girl Bug!
Jaia would call you a “Surfer girl”!
Kandace
Man, I sure wished we lived at the beach!
Scary for both of you. Glad she wanted to go back first thing.
Camels & Chocolate
Awww, Bug! What a trouper!
Gingermog
Sounds like Bug is a brave girl, wanting to get back to the beach. I think this is an important lesson for her too, I remember as a 3 year old the first time I learnt I couldn’t breathe under water, the shock of salty water pouring down my throat. The sea is fun, but it can catch you out, I have a healthy respect for the sea but at the moment I miss it with every fiber of my body. Oh and here’s a top tip for sand castles. I used to make Loch Ness monsters. Pile up a few big huge mounds of sand, hollow them out so the sea comes through, shape a head carve scales on. All the kids used to come and help and I learnt a lesson in not being such a perfectionist :)
DeeJay
Gotta love that Bug.
mamalang
My PB, who is much bigger, had that experience again this year, only a little further in the water. All it takes is 2 second of not paying attention. Luckily her first instinct was to yell for Daddy (Cause girl knows mama isn’t going to get there as fast…lol) and then fight towards shore. Glad it didn’t make her too afraid!
justJENN
Love the beach. Hate cleaning sand.
Susie Sunshine
I visited the ocean for the first time EVER a few weeks ago, so I now can completely visualize what happened to poor Bug. I was knocked ass-over-teakettle when just standing on the water’s edge several times. (I also learned when you’re knocked down: GET UP! GET UP FAST!)
We didn’t know about the whole riptide thing until we read it in the newspaper later. We thought the life guard closed our section of the beach because he was tired of how loud we were!
Jen
We love the beach too unfortunately we only get to see it once (maybe twice) a year. My little one enjoyed it this year (a huge difference from last summer). I’m glad my kids love the beach – it’s one of my favorite places to be.
Gayle
Wow, BB is a brave girl! Your photos are beautiful. I feel like I’m at the beach!
Marie
Aww! Poor baby bug! She’s definitely very courageous to want to go back. Good for her!
Shel
Baby Powder! Works great for getting sand off. Better when it is more dry but it definitely is a lifesaver when we are done & about to head home from the beach. Sand is not fun when it is wedged underneath you in the car for over an hr.
Angella
We’ve been living at the beach too. THE SAND drives me crazy, but it’s worth it in the end :)
Michelle
Hoping to get to the sand and surf before school starts! Looks like everyone is feeling better too :o)
Susan
Not crazy about the gritty sand in my plumbing or floors, but we love us some beach! Glad BB wanted to go back to the beach after getting knocked down by a wave. It won’t be the last time but maybe she’ll give it a good push back next time.
Victoria
Nasty scary waves!!! *shaking my fist at ’em*
;)
Red Lotus Mama
What a little trooper! Little ‘Ny has been in swim lessons for a few months now and just loves the pool, so I was hoping she would be into at least getting her feet in the water. NOPE! She doesn’t even like touching her feet in the ocean water, so I can’t even get her to sit in the “good sand castle making” sand. Oh well. Some day.
Spandrel Studios
Like the song says: Pick yourself up, dust yourself off… start all over again!
(Good for you, Bug, for not letting the ocean get the best of you!)
Micaela
That’s it. I’m not dressing my future children in anything but hoodies. She looks adorable in that last picture!! Definitely going to grow up to be a little surfer girl, or a heartbreaker, or maybe (probably) both.
Laura (aka Laurie)
A green shovel….. who would of thought – the pictures are great – and you are right…. we have all been caught off guard by a wave. Now is a great time for her to learn how powerful that ocean can be.
Rae
The sand in the bed is the worst ever, in my mind, and I can’t seem to keep it out… but still and still, we are soooo looking forward to beach time here in India- not until October!
OMSH
This happened to Meredith out in the swells and I was FEET from her and it took forever to reach her as she kept reaching out for her boogey board. Thank God that thing was attached to her wrist because she was able to pull up on it before I could get to her.
We went in too after that.
She wanted back out on the waves 2 hours later.
Kids are RESILIENT.
Genie
We live only a few blocks from the beach and when I was little my mother would take me nearly every day. Once I was bobbing around in the water while she watched and a wave came along and swallowed me up. My mother flipped out, convinced her little girl was washed out to sea and when she sprinted out to where I was I came up sputtering and exclaimed, “Did you see my hand? I was holding my hand up so you could find me!”
I hope you stick around on this here blog, because I just now found you and like reading you. :) Just keep your hand up so I can find you.
karen
SCARY! Glad you got that over with, though…next time, maybe it won’t be as shocking? Sooner or later, you can teach her how to say, “OOOH, I hate it when that happens!” and giggle while you de-sand.
Heidi
That story made me smile very BIG. What a trooper.
I’m VERY jealous of your proximity to the beach. That’s my idea of heaven…surprise waves and all.
Petey
Random question – where did you get Bug’s striped bathing suit?
SAJ says: I tried to email you but my email came back to me. I actually got it at Old Navy last year. Bug is little and still fits it a year later.
Petey
Thank you!
Sorry – there was a typo in my original e-mail.
BeachMama
I love that story. And how close you are to the beach. I do believe after our second trip to my beach this year that if I did live close by we would be on the beach every day. J even got in the ocean this time around. Thank goodness my kids love the beach as much as I do.