The Beach

Mommy's Dad and Stepmom, Opa and Nona, have a beach house in Duck, NC. They have been very generous to us over the years and allowed us to use the beach house when it's available. This year, Tahlia returned for the third time (6 months, ~15 months, and 2008).

The first time, she enjoyed sitting in the shade and playing in the small pool that Opa and Nona had for her that we filled with ocean water. The second time, she loved screaming and running straight at the ocean with her floppy white hat.

This year, she wanted to go to the beach, and often, prior to our actual trip to the beach, Tahlia took many trips there on her own. She would climb aboard her "bus", which is a Winnie the Pooh . . . well . . . it is some sort of vehicle that has a steering wheel, horn, wheels, shifting lever and key, and, once aboard, tell Mommy or me, "I'm going to the beach." Sometimes the beach was by the fireplace. Other times it was by the front door. She always had a good time and always returned safely. Just in case you're curious, she sometimes rides her bus to Mya's house, the mall, and the grocery store. They too are found either by the fireplace or the front door.

The actual trip was not as nice as the bus trips. We left at bed time, foolishly thinking that things would work out how we wanted, rather than how they do. Around bedtime, we finished loading the car with the children and started driving. Asher quickly fell asleep. Tahlia quickly began talking. She talked and talked. Usually, she is asleep around 8:00, but even at 9:30, she was still singing the "Mya Song." Around 9:40 she suddenly became quiet and slept the remainder of the way.

Asher shocked us. Usually he sleeps a solid four hours at night, then wakes around midnight. Then he wakes every two to three hours for the rest of the night. Instead, after sleeping for five hours in the car, he continued to sleep until four in the morning in his car seat. The extra sleep was very welcome.

Tahlia had a little more difficulty, transitioning to a new bed was a little more difficult. After a little while, she did find peace and slept until the morning that had light.

The time at the beach was a welcome respite from our normal lives. Not to be cliche, but, there is something calming about the beach air, and being in a house that isn't yours. One great part of the trip was that Asher started sleeping. We hope that this continues when we arrive home, as almost every nap has been about two hours, and he has been sleeping until two or three in the morning before waking for the first time. Even though about two months ago we stopped swaddling him per advice from our doctor, per advice from another one of the doctors at the same practice, we started swaddling him again. Where he used to fight it, now he just looks up at us smuggly, almost as if he is saying, "I too need to sleep."

The actual beach time was great. Tahlia built sand castles, saw crabs, ran in the water and even went past the breakers. To Mommy's consternation, Daddy brought Tahlia past the big waves a couple of times for a few seconds. He did it once and wasn't going to do it a second time except it was what Tahlia wanted. Asher didn't enjoy the beach as much since it was just hot. He never spent more than a half hour there. We always went early in the morning, but still, it was too hot.

This part isn't funny, and so we tried not to laugh. Several times, Tahlia, after building a sand castle, or creating an imprint of her hand, would have an itch on her face, or discover something in her mouth that she didn't want. She, of course, reacted the same way she always reacts, which is to attempt to rid herself of the discomfort by means of using her hands to either scratch, or rub. This action brought sand up onto her forehead, eyebrows, nose, mouth and tongue. We would often return to the beach house with a little girl with sand plastered over the majority of her face. As I said, it wasn't funny, and we tried not to laugh.

Luckily, she loved the outside shower. Sometimes, we think the only reason she wanted to go to the beach in the morning at all was to come back and take a shower outside.

On our third day at the beach, we noticed that the house beside ours was empty, and that it has a beautiful pool. Because the afternoons were too hot for the beach, and since Tahlia really wanted to go swimming, we took a calculated risk and ran over to the pool for a quick swim. The pool water was a perfect temperature, and Tahlia showed, once again, that she loves being in the water.

Albert Einstein stated that "insanity [is] doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." For many who know us, it is probably not a stretch that this definition often fits our decision making. I'd like to thick it is lack of sleep that is clouding our judgment, but sometimes I'm not so sure. Needless to say, we piled into the car, again, right around bed time. Asher, again, went right to sleep. Tahlia, again, went right to talking. Around 9:40, she finally nodded off to sleep. Fortunately, Asher also slept well for the rest of the night. Needless to say, we've learned our lesson

The next day was fraught with stories of the beach, and even though Daddy starts his administrative internship on Monday, which will mean he goes back to work, we are looking forward, already, to the next beach trip. Hopefully, when we leave the next time at bed time, Tahlia will go right to sleep.