Beach

We’re in Florida visiting my in-laws.   We have a lot of family here, which I always love.   This is one of my favorite weeks of the year for multiple reasons.   First, winter is usually waning where we live, but the daily temperature still fluctuates from snow-worthy to short-sleeved, outdoor biking and playing outside weather.   But it’s not full-blown spring and most certainly not pool-worthy weather.

When our family converges in Florida we have warm, shorts weather every day.   Each year I bring a jacket for the children—just in case—but we never need it.   There is a small pool in my in-law’s back yard which is the highlight of the trip.   Every day we can go out as soon as people want to and get in the hot tub part (which overflows into the pool when it’s not heating up to adult-level hot temperatures).    Some people would spend all day in the pool (my daughter) if allowed and all of us are in and out of the house most of the day eating lunch on the pool deck and mostly relaxing if you’re the children, playing all sorts of games they make up as they bounce around in the pool.

We play volleyball in the pool too.   There’s a little net that can be put across the middle of the pool, but it’s not exactly even in pool space or depth, but no one seems to care.   We play with children’s 15” bouncy balls that are easy to hit for everyone, including my children.   And no one keeps score, it’s mostly about having fun together.

After lunch today my mother-in-law suggested we go to the beach.   We’re in Florida and they live about fifteen minutes from the beach, which should be an attractive draw for us, but her suggestion was met with minimum enthusiasm.   But when Nana wants to do something she has a way of convincing the rest of us we should as well.

The eleven of us piled into two cars and on the way saw a drawbridge go up and down, which was interesting to the child who could see and uneventful for the one who can’t, but I think she’s used to that by now.   We got to the beach/park and walked over a long, winding path that included a long pedestrian bridge to the beach area.

We put our towels on the one chair and those interested in checking out the water went to investigate the temperature.    My son and daughter got sand everywhere.   And then, ten minutes after we arrived, the children wanted to go home.   They were partially sunburned from the days before and both of them had rashes on their skin from maybe sunburn, maybe long exposure to chlorine or maybe food that caused them to have eczema.   Whatever it was made the salt water and sand painful on their skin.

But Nana prevailed and they continued to have fun in the water while some of our group took a walk on the beach.   When we got back in the car, still sand-ridden despite the spray showers at the edge of the bridge, I think the overall consensus was that a sand-free, heated pool replete with hot tub in your back yard was a far superior Florida water option.

Nana’s also suggested we go to a waterpark later this week.   Since there is no sand involved and lots of fun motion, I think we might be all aboard on that idea.

The Big Boy Update:  My husband found a coconut on the beach.   He showed the children the barnacles growing on it and then explained it needed to go back into the ocean to keep the barnacles alive.   But my son didn’t want to let it go.   There was a funny bit of time just before we left where my husband would throw it into the ocean and my son would run after it, swimming to retrieve it, smiling the whole time.   After the third time we all laughed and said it was a little like playing fetch with a dog.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   My daughter has several spots on her that are bad enough to need cortisone applied to her skin.   This morning my husband was rubbing it in and my daughter was complaining loudly about it stinging.   After he was done she said, “I hate cortisone, it’s my mortal ‘en-em-ee’”.