Son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren come down for a week's holiday. Daughter also joins us. Amazingly for mid September we have some gorgeous weather and we take ourselves off to the beach for the day. Although the surf schools are still in evidence, as are the lifeguards, the beach itself is wonderfully clear - just a few families like ourselves with young children.
We settle ourselves against some rocks. Grandson (aged two and a half) is wild with excitement. There's a tiny rockpool nearby and for about an hour he busies himself grabbing handfuls of sand from a nearby stream and running across to dump it in his rockpool. We watch, amused. As Son says, it's a tough job transporting sand across the beach, but someone has to do it.
After a picnic lunch we go to investigate my favourite rockpool (where Son and Daughter spent many happy hours when they were little) only to find it's disappeared, silted up with sand. Daughter (the surfer) assures me it's due to tides and winds and only temporary. Relieved we make our way down to the sea where Grandson plunges in, jumps waves with us and, despite getting freezing cold, refuses to come out. We manage eventually to drag him out, shivering, on the promise of an ice cream. The van is a long way off, but Grandson carries his in both hands all the way back, stopping to lick it every now and then. 'Careful' I keep saying, convinced he'll drop it. When we get back Daughter-in-law puts an extra top on him while I offer to hold his ice cream. What do I do? I promptly drop it. I still can't quite believe how I did it. I mutter something about after-effects of chemo and offer Grandson mine. Son steps in, passing his over and won't take mine, leaving me feeling thoroughly guilty.
When we pack up to go Daughter picks up her new pre-ordered, tailor-made surfboard. As it's strapped to her car roof I gulp at the size of it, but choke back my worried motherly whittering. I decide to turn my attention to Granddaughter (eight months old) instead. In the couple of days she's been down here she's started feeding herself and her first tooth has appeared. Her hair is beginning to grow too. I inspect her head with a rather jaundiced eye. Still, I reassure myself, I'm still ahead of her in the tooth ratings.
A walk on the beach with children - simply the best!
Have you ever wondered, Jeannie, why you don't see more 'dreamy eyed' couples walking on the beach? If you ever take any time to read personal ads, many say that they love walks on the beach!!
Soon you will be telling us about your curly hair! I can hear you saying, "Better be sooner than later!"
Posted by: Peg | September 19, 2007 at 08:09 PM