My perfect day...

I really love going to the beach. I love spending as many hours as possible soaking up the sun, building sand castles, eating snacks from a cooler and splashing in the waves. I love the sun-drained feeling you have on the drive home and the taste of salt on the faces of your children when you kiss their cheeks. I love the feeling of a little sun burn on your shoulders and sand stuck between your toes. I love the chill of the ocean waves and the heat of the sun beaten sand. I love hunting for shells, rocks, sea glass and drift wood. I love dreaming in the motion of the waves the night after a beach day. I love it all!

I've been missing great beach days ever since we moved to California. Here where we live it can be 90 degrees and super sunny but once you cross the little range of hills that separates us from the ocean the temperature drops 30 degrees, the wind kicks up and the fog rolls in...making an afternoon and the beach the total pits. When you get to the beach you want the sun to be blazing so that the idea of jumping into blood freezing water sounds not only reasonable but wicked fun. I never thought I would think the Atlantic Ocean was warm but compared to the ocean water here, it is!

Today, however, was the day at the beach I've been dreaming of. We went down to a beach near Santa Cruz with some friends from church. Clare liked to stand at the waters edge, clinging to my legs waiting to see which wave would reach our toes. When one did get us she would squeal "Dey dot yours toes!" and when she saw a wave coming she would warn the others in the water: "Wach-out! Here dey come aden!" Lorien is the family fish, she was in the water the whole time we were at the beach...excepting a five or ten minute snack break. She and her friend chased the waves and tried to jump over the break. Lorien even ventured out into deeper water with Will for a bit. Wyatt appreciates all of the treasures available at the beach to an avid collector of crap. He discovered about 40 interesting rocks, a giant hunk of drift wood, sea shells, bottle caps and stalks of sea weed longer than he was tall. He took a short break from treasure hunting to be buried in the sand, up to his neck. Will enjoyed time talking business with friends, wrestling with the kids, chasing the kids, tossing the kids up in the air and splashing the kids in the water. I built sand castles and dug deep holes, filled buckets with water and spread peanut butter on dozens of crackers. I kissed my husband, took pictures of my kids, sat in the hot sand and chatted with my friends. I even managed to get my whole body in to the water without my heart stopping, although, the icy water did take my breath away. When we got home I told Will that this was one of the best Saturdays I had in a long time...

I do have to apologize to my brother and sister-in-law. We were supposed to babysit for them tonight but there was a terrible accident on pass over the mountains home and we ended up in bumper to bumper traffic for several hours. I'm sorry Dave and Angela, I promise to make it up to you!!!