Trip to the Beach

We live under 10 miles from the beach, but haven't been able to go since Liam was born because of either his age or *ahem* his behavior {sand eating!}  Today we tried it again and were successful!  L, L and I went to South Ponto for 1.5 hours this afternoon after lunch and it was a hit.  I did end up holding Liam most of the time as he was unsure of walking in the sand and why it wouldn't come off of his toes.  He also did not love standing in the waves but was sort of amused by them if I held him.  Laney did some body whomping {a word coined by Mike Perry} and had a fantastic time running around in the slop, making fast friends with the other preschoolers on the beach.

The thing that they both liked were sand crabs.  I must have collected millions of these guys as a kid along the North County shoreline.  They were fodder for hours of entertainment for me as a child, and I made sure to pass that tradition along today.

I showed the kids how to find evidence of them by looking for the v-shaped indentation their antennae made in the swash zone of the tide.  Armed with shovels, they eagerly dug down to find the little squirming crabs and filled up their pails until the water was a swirling mass of tiny gray crustaceans.  Liam didn't really get the hang of holding them as they would speed off the palm of his hand and dive back to the liquid sand, leaving him looking confused and a little annoyed.  Laney really liked holding them, squealing as they tickled her hand, looking for a place to burrow in.  "They feel like tickles and I want to come back and find them again" Laney told me as we headed back to our car.  

Mission accomplished!  I must note that while Liam didn't really like playing in the water, he did find much enjoyment in sitting on his beach towel and eating.  Go figure.