Beach day

Liam walking around in his beach poncho
(gift from grandma Bette Motzing from Australia)

Before I was married, I would not miss a good beach day for anything in the world. I would even venture out when it was partly cloudy and in the seventies, all for the sake of getting a good tan. I have a preference for beaches with waves and a boardwalk, so the beaches I frequent the most here are Long Beach and Jones Beach which are a short commute from NYC. A straw hat, music in my ears, my extra large beach towel (that I picked up from an awesome trip to Hawaii), my water bottle, my favorite grilled chicken salad, some fruit, my Australian Gold suntan lotion (ironic, isn't it, that it was Australian?) and I was all set. There was nothing better.

Priorities change, of course, once you are married and even more so after having a child; add to this mix, my husband's Church calling which occupies a lot more of his time. Well, this Saturday, we actually made it possible. I couldn't believe it! We finally had our beach day, the first (and probably the only one) of this summer, so we spent it at Long Beach.

It was a hot one and perfect to be sitting out by the ocean breeze. First, daddy helped Liam build sand castles, complete with a moat. Liam and his little beach buddy (another two-year old we met at the beach that day) destroyed them in seconds, of course. Then, when daddy got really hot and finally cried defeat, he went out to wrestle against the waves. His bravery only allowed him just a few minutes of bobbing up and down on the waves before the lifeguards frantically whistled to signal everyone to come in out of the water. The waves were furiously strong.* From then on, swimmers were strictly allowed into the water only up to their waist.

Meanwhile, Liam and I remained on the sand. I didn't realize how challenging it could be to try to feed lunch to a two-year old on the beach. He was covered in sand. I had to rinse his hands with some of our drinking water and then made sure that he did not accidentally drop or intentionally throw his food in the sand, or kick up sand in celebration of his beach day. In the end, he took a couple of bites of food and mostly had fruit. Well, he could not eat it fast enough though as he preferred to be playing in the sand.

One exciting moment came when we saw a man waving to the crowds along the beach as he was hanging on from a rope ladder off of a helicopter. It was a publicity stunt for the G.I. Joe movie. Very cool though it happened so fast that I didn't get a chance to grab my camera.

When daddy came back from his short dip in the ocean, I took Liam to the water cool him off and to rinse off his sweaty, sticky little self. Once he saw the ocean, his amazement was such that he kept yelling out, "the ocean, mama!" over and over again. The water temperature was perfect, and boy, did I secretly want to go for a swim and brave those awesome waves! Instead, I have to say that I had the time of my life playing with Liam along the shore. He ran towards the water and when a wave would come in, he would run away towards the sand. It would still catch up to him, of course, much to his delight. Those squeals of laughter and excitement from my precious boy, the salty air, the sound of the ocean crashing at our feet, the warm sun on our skin, it was just perfect.

Building sand castles with daddy...

... and with a beach buddy

Enjoying some watermelon

What a happy day! Liam certainly had a blast! Here's hoping we can get out to the beach more often in the summer.


*We found out that, in a section of the beach next to ours, 10 people were simultaneously swept far out in the ocean. We heard the frantic whistling and the sirens of the beach patrol and Long Beach police as they all raced to that section of the beach. I found it amazing to watch the lifeguards in action as they threw themselves into the ocean with such speed and agility to successfully get all the people out. In one word, it was amazing, but a little bit scary to watch, too. I know my heart was racing, just looking at what was going on.