Thursday, January 27, 2011

Life’s a Beach

Jill's Journal: I love the beach. I hate the beach. I love the beach. I hate the beach. I love the beach. I hate the beach. I love the beach. I hate the beach.

If the beach didn’t have that pesky little thing called sand, it would be just about the most wonderful place in the world. And really, I don’t mind the sand AT the beach one bit. It’s part of the fun. What I mind is the sand that comes WITH you when you leave the beach. Especially with three children.

Our kids, like just about all kids (I suspect), don’t give the sand issue a second thought. They definitely do think the beach is just about the most wonderful place in the world. And that’s a good thing.

They’d been positively itching to go back to the Pacific, particularly Oceano, where vehicles are welcome. So we loaded them up in Daddy’s truck (which is a treat for them in itself) to partake in this particular eight-mile long stretch of sand dunes and ocean. A few miles down the shoreline, much farther than we’d dared take the minivan a few days ago, we stopped for a minute as several ATVs were headed right into our path… and we promptly got stuck in the soft, fine sand. The girls thought it was most amusing; Rob not quite as much at the time. A shovel, a couple of planks of wood, and four-wheel drive did nothing to help, but a nice couple in a little Toyota pickup stopped and helped pull the big, bad Ford out. Happily, we were laughing about it within 30 seconds of getting out. And thank goodness we did get out!

We found a nice spot and let the girls play to their hearts’ content. They rolled in the sand, buried themselves in the sand, and basically succeeded in getting sand over just about every centimeter of their bodies. They had a ball. Before leaving, they got to play in the water once again. And watch the sunset over the horizon. Life is good.

I realize it might look odd to be wearing winter-type clothing while barefoot at the beach. The weather may be beautiful, but it’s not quite warm enough for bathing suits when you add in ocean breezes. One of these days, we’ll hit the shore in beachwear instead of sweaters, but for now, we’ve got to take what we can get. The girls, of course, wouldn’t care if they had to wear parkas and mittens if it meant they could be at the beach. Now if only we could do something about all that sand…

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why no picture of the stuck ford??

dad

gretchenhs said...

I love the first picture Jill, it's stunning!

Anonymous said...

Rob is telling people on Facebook that HE took that gorgeous shot of the girls on the beach. I know about your photography fetish & I think he's lying! :)

-Diana

Jill said...

LOL!! I so appreciate the faith you all have in me. :) However, I cannot tell a lie. While I most definitely take 99.9% of all the pictures in our family, Rob did indeed take that first shot.

Dragon15 said...

It feels like such a tease that you are in Cali and yet we haven't been able to connect. I sometimes wish Cat and I could join you in some of your adventures. (Connor is "Too cool" for some of it.)

April

Jill said...

April, don't worry, dear girl! We will, at some point in the near future, be in your neck of the woods and then we can have all kinds of adventures together! :)

Anonymous said...

The next time you are stuck, give me a call and I will drive the IH 886 over to give you a pull .First mud, then sand, what next, snow? Uncle Kim

Anonymous said...

the dodge got stuck in the creek and at the pond edge. It's at least four maybe five times now. But we're not counting.