Initiating the landing sequence

There are so many fun things to do at the beach, that it seems as if it would be hard for the boys to find the most favorite thing of all.


There are cousins (and siblings!) to play with. There’s the burying under cushions, making sand castles, and the old standard—wrestling on the living room floor until the parents and grandparents can’t stand the noise. This year, there has been a substantial amount of imaginary Star Wars games, once erupting into quite a bit of shouts of alarm. The adults giggled as they heard the reason, explained in a very serious five year old voice, "But Mommy, he initiated the LANDING SEQUENCE," as the cause of so much alarm.




There’s the ocean. Oh, the ocean! Alex is a super-star out in the waves. He’d rather be swimming than anything else---even eating sweets! (another favorite past time on vacation… salt water taffy, anyone?) I can’t tell you how refreshing, enjoyable, and somewhat disconcerting it is to enjoy the ocean as a practical equal with my seven year old son. When did he get to be so big? He has a natural grasp of interpreting the waves, and knowing when to swim under, when to jump over, and when to enjoy the ride.

And there's the sand on the beach. Jameson is interested in the water, but unlike his brother, he has a bit of innate fear of the waves and all the “bubbles” that get in his eyes. For him, the sand on the beach is bigger thrill than the waves. Armed with a bucket and a shovel, he spends his time alternating between digging in the sand and running into the shallow waves for buckets of water to pour into the holes he has made in the sand.

Of course there are things we don’t get to do everyday, like fishing off the pier, or the wading in the tidal pools at the end of the island. Those score fairly high in the contest for favorite things to do.

And the boys doesn’t even consider the things that I like to do best, like going to a yoga class on the beach or frequenting the used book store or eating wonderful meals with family.

But the most joy, out of all the options on the beach?

Playing with the hose used to wash off sandy feet. This is the single most important of Jameson’s day, he runs to it shrilly shrieking “I DO IT MYSELF MAMA!” and then easily spends 10-15 minutes with the hose, if we let him.

(who knew? Perhaps we’ll save the money in future years, and just buy Jameson a hose… nah…)