Beach Day

Daddy was off to work this afternoon and both boys were just so eager to follow him that I could not keep them inside. We needed to flee the house and search for an outdoor space where Ronan was unlikely to infect others with his germs (he has a cold). Our initial destination was the Forest Park as usual where we could run under the trees along many crisscrossed paths brandishing our magic wands and practicing for our future at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, as we drew near the park I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to change course.

Instead we headed for the beach to play in the sand a while. We arrived at the parking lot and immediately the boys were energized. They raced over the boardwalk and up the stairs leading to the bridge. Here, however they stopped for a long time. A train was coming! "Beep beep!" said Ronan, and Jonas, of course, corrected him, "No Ronan, it's a choochoo train!"

After the train had passed we headed down the spiraling stairs to the beach. High tide, so much for sand. But there were tons of rocks, so mama tried to instigate a rock castle build and a search for seals. Ronan wasn't open for suggestions though. He was intent on one thing and one thing only: throwing rocks into the Sound. Hmmm...mama says no. Ronan says yes. Mama says no, let's build a rock castle. Ronan says no, let's throw rocks into the Sound. And on. And on.

Finally after many attempts to banish the rock-throwing idea I was saved by the arrival of a man with two dogs. We were on the off-leash portion of the beach and these dogs didn't look like they would tolerate my toddlers' rough play so I was given a marvelous excuse and we moved to the other side of the beach.

Why we didn't first come to this side is beyond me. There was sand here! And a glorious array of driftwood logs creating a beach playground on the short high tide space. Yay! With little persuasion I was able to get Ronan covered in beach sand and away from rock throwing. Finally a mama success story! And now we know that the side of the beach we need to go to is the sandy side.

I must note also that we met a lively puppy on our way back to the car and she was a chocolate lab. Very cute little girl who loved the attention of my boys and they hers. When we left her company I asked Jonas if we should get a puppy like that and he said, "well, first we should get some food for her." That's my smart little man. Prepare ahead of time. I love it!