Beach Bums

Jamie, Clare, and I went to the beach today. I cannot believe I am actually saying this since last weekend, we were still shoveling snow off our deck. It reached 90 degrees today! A brief taste of summer for us since I think winter is over. (I say that hesitantly because you never know.)

If you had asked me last week, lugging two kids plus all our gear plus my hugely pregnant self to the beach on a Monday morning would totally not be in my plans. I was in the habit of keeping my Mondays clear of appointments so I could take the girls (K - it was so weird not to have them today! I almost called you to ask if I could take them, then I saw that YOU didn't even have them today). However, I no longer babysit on Mondays, so we had the whole day looming before us with absolutely nothing written on the calendar. Which can be daunting sometimes. What are we going to do all day? No doctor's appointment, no therapy session, no scheduled playdate, no swim class? We are usually so busy running around that a day of nothing planned can be wonderful. But lately, I need activities to fill our day or else we all go insane. I just don't have the physical and mental energy to entertain Jamie and Clare all day long. So when my friend Jamie said last night that she was bringing her girls to the beach today, I thought it sounded like a great idea. Who knows when we're going to get another perfect beach day, plus I am even more wary of lugging THREE kids to the beach by myself this summer!

And it was a perfect beach day. Jamie was happy as a clam (pun intended!). He and his friend Elyza played in the sand and in the water (the water was icy cold, but that didn't stop Jamie). Jamie would have stayed all day except Clare was not as happy at the beach. She enjoyed herself for the first hour or so - under the umbrella eating Pirate Booty and Trix. I tried to get her to play in the sand, but she wanted nothing to do with it. That surprised me because she loves the sandbox at home, but I think she didn't like the wet sand. I tried taking her down to the water, but when I discovered the water was too cold for even me, I knew there was no way Clare would like it (unless it's bath water temperature, she won't go in a pool). So it was back on the beach blanket for us. Even though Clare was in the shade for the majority of the time, her little cheeks were so flushed. The heat affects her so quickly and drastically. Eventually, I had to force Jamie to leave or I thought Clare would pass out. Maybe it was too much on her after a week of being sick, but she was finally acting like herself yesterday, so I took a chance. Even though Clare was miserable for the last half-hour or so, our first trip to the beach this year on a whole was great. And it wasn't as hard as I expected although I think everyone will sleep well tonight! Now if I can only make it through the rest of the week! Clare has her orthopedic consult in Boston on Wednesday, so the baby is under strict instructions to stay put until we get back home. I don't think it's going to be a problem because I am not due until next Friday, Jamie was six days late, and Clare was nine days late, so we still have some time before I expect the baby to come.