I think these very days were the days Nat King Cole was singing about in his song. Those days when your sandy bottomed beach bag is filled, emptied, refilled, emptied of gritty sunscreen bottles, beach hats, buckets and shovels. When you look outside, check the weather, look outside again, and declare it a beach day (a bit of a commitment, you know, if you don’t live right on the beach). And out comes the gear. The more people (really the more children) the more gear. It’s worth it, though, because somehow a bucket and a shovel takes on new meaning for a child at the beach. It’s everything. So that gear has to make its way from the car to the beach in–Lord, let it be so–one trip and one trip only. Every bit of upper body muscle takes part, no slackers here! The umbrella, the chairs, the towels, the sand toys, the boogie boards, the food, of course the food! Kids’ faces get smeared with sunscreen, streaks of white mixed with gray bits of sand while they beg you to stop. Hopefully you remember to use it on yourself too. The day consists of bites of food, sips of water, running to the water, running back, digging holes, filling buckets, emptying buckets, rinse and repeat. Somehow on the beach I barely notice I’m hungry but then the moment my feet hit the pavement afterwards I’m suddenly famished. That salt air is tricky.
We had such a nice beach day today with my sister and her kids, my Mom, and our cousins. It wasn’t too crowded and so the kids could run everywhere, to the water’s edge, back to the chairs without getting lost and frantically searching for the umbrella to call home. There was tuna on crackers, chats, walks to collect seashells and seaweed, and some sand throwing (a perennial favorite of beach-going children, right parents?). I don’t think the smile left Parker’s face all day long. And Anders, gosh, he’s the type of baby who just goes with the flow so much that you feel like asking, pleading, “Tell me when it’s too much, when I’m to the point where I’m actually taking advantage of your kindness.” He protests ever so quietly, and so I nurse him under the shade of the umbrella or put him in the carrier and go for a quiet little walk. Even so, we spent nearly five hours on the beach–sun, sand, salt air are good companions.
(Some of you have asked where Anders’ rash guard came from–it’s here from Baby Gap.)
Pure bliss…sounds like a perfect beach day! We are heading to the beach this weekend and can not wait!
I love this post, almost like I can smell the salty air myself. Gone are the days of being barricaded in the Boston snow….bring on Summer 🙂
GONE THEY ARE. (till winter of course!) :-/
Love your descriptions! It's always funny (but also not so funny) to watch little kids run back from the waters edge and then realize they're at the wrong umbrella. It happened so much when we were at the beach last week. I would smile sweetly at them, but they always that look of "Oh no!" when they realized that I was NOT their mama. Ha!
I agree! I'm never hungry on the beach but the second I leave I'm like: "I could eat an entire bag of chips RIGHT NOW!" funny how that works!
an entire bag of chips aaaaand a whole pizza.
I love the way you describe this trip… and that you brought up Nat King Cole. I can hear his velvety voice in my head now… no other like his voice. I can feel the sand and taste the sea salt air in my imagination now and I so wish I were on a beach. Soak up every minute of it! It never lasts long enough!
xx
Jenny // Mish Mosh Makeup
Oh just the way you wrote about this perfectly captures summer, the beach, childhood. I am experiencing my very first summer out in Washington state this year and I'm seriously wondering when/if I'll get to wear a bathing suit this year. This post makes my longing for a "real summer" even more acute. But….sounds like the perfect day with your family, soak it all in and wear lots of sunscreen.
It was such a good, good day.
So perfect and so true!! Beach days are the BEST!
Oh, sigh. Bridget, this read like a story. A story I love and have lived and want to live in some more! We go to the beach on the regular here in Chicago — we live nearby it — and I love it, but it's not the same as the ocean. Your day with your fam sounded so blissful, so full of simple joy. So happy you are getting this beautiful vacation and soaking it all in!
This sounds perfect!! Beautifully written and photographed xxx
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