We are such novice parents

The last time husband and I went to the beach was in early Sept. '08 with our darling 10 month old Amidala. Here I am pregnant with my son thinking, "Geesh, going to the coast is not relaxing anymore when you take your baby." We had foolishly brought along two chairs, though one of us was always up to chase Ami. I remember taking turns with husband to eat lunch and deciding we probably weren't going to do this again anytime soon.


So last summer we never went to the coast or camping or any other major outdoor activity. We did go to the Denver zoo last June and all that did was remind me my chidren are still too young and it was a lot more stress than it was worth. Now husband was just itching to go to the beach so when a perfect, sunny, 65 degree Saturday was in the forecast, I said ok and started my obessive planning. We would go to Long Beach (not as crowded as Seaside) where there was a boardwalk and hundreds of yards of dry sand. The kids probably wouldn't even notice the ocean until we walked them down there. And only one chair this time, I had learned from my previous experience. About 5 min. to our destination, husband suggested we go to Ilwaco where there was a beach he remembered at a campground from when he was a kid. Now my first impulse was to deny him and demand we stick to my carefully laid out, exactly right beach trip with two kids plan. But I deeply love and appreciate my husband, and marriage is all about compromise, so I agreed to his request without any fuss. We pulled into the parking lot and Ami was just bursting with excitment (I had been talking up the beach for two days). We walked with all our stuff down a little path to the beach and discovered it was very small, surround by rocks and driftwood and absolutely no dry sand. Lots of tidepools and the ocean was no more than 75 feet from us. For a brief moment we contemplated going back to the car and driving the 10 minutes to sure-thing Long Beach but the kids were so eager to get down and play I thought, "How bad can this be?"


They treated those tide pools like a bath and were soaked in the first 15 minutes. Calvin was much more comfortable naked.


They both constantly ran toward the ocean while we, their panicked parents, constantly ran to be by their side and save them from being swept out to sea. We tried in vain to get them to eat bites of lunch while we chased them, but they were content to eat sand and drink salt water. After about an hour, exhausted, we gave up. I convinced Ami we were going to another beach and dragged Calvin crying to the car. I got them to eat a little lunch in the car while husband went back and brought up the rest of our stuff. No, we never used the chair.


We stopped at the McDonalds in Long Beach with a playplace to reflect on our situation and decide what to do next. Going to play in the sand wasn't too desirable now that I'd just gotten them into dry clothes and knew the game of chase-a-child that would inevitably ensue. So we put them in their respective backpacks, held hands and ate icecream on the boardwalk.


So yeah, we spent more time driving then actually at the coast but the kids still had a total blast. Ami is still asking to go back. And amidst all that intial stress, husband and I didn't growl at each other once. Now we know for next time: it's pointless to pack a chair.

I love you, husband.