Beach

I have never in my life had a beach trip like this. We played to our hearts’ content in the ocean waves, in the soft sand and in the pool. When we were all tuckered out we headed up to our haven in the sky, the penthouse condo and believe it or not, it was all of 10:30 in the morning. With early risers for kids we got an early start and got to beat the angry afternoon sun and swarms of people. Rob and I have both been going to Daytona Beach since we were kids. The water was always a navy blue and kind of murky but not this particular weekend. It was clear, I mean Caribbean clear! I could see my toes even when I was chest deep in the water and it was the perfect temperature, warm enough to tolerate but cool enough to be refreshing in the hot sticky Florida summer. Aliya was not the beach girl I expected. I thought she’d love the ocean and run away from the waves while getting her toes wet, giggling the whole time but she wanted nothing to do with the ocean or its never-ending waves. She hated every moment we tortured her by having her get in. She could’ve stayed playing in the sand forever though. She dug it, threw it, piled it and did pretty much anything you can with sand. Kaden was at home in the warm breeze, he instantly fell asleep when we went outside. We cuddled him up in a basket filled with fluffy beach towels. On Sunday we managed to get him into the ocean, he could’ve lived without it but it did wonders for his skin.
Rob and I watched the moon rise over the Atlantic, taking in the sweat salty air. It was a magical trip to take the kids to the beach and smell the salt in the nape of their necks. We met a little girl, GiGi, about 9 at the beach with her dad and brother, she was obviously in chemo as her hairless head reflected the light of the sun, taking one last trip to the beach before school started. How lovely to spend quality time with your kids at the beach, for us and for GiGi’s dad.