Ocean

Growing up in PA my family did not spend a whole lot of time at the ocean. We went to visit my grandparents in Vermont and did the lake thing. We went to a family camp in New York and did more lakes. And we had a little creek in the backyard. The Jersey Shore wasn't far away...but we didn't make the trek that often...at least not until I was in high school. So I have never been a big ocean person. The whole big waves can't see the bottom sticky forever salt feeling just never appealed to me. The few times we were on the coast, I mostly chose to sit in the sand and work on my tan.

Things didn't change too much when I met Adam. I suppose I got a little more adventurous, but I paid for it. When we got engaged in the Outer Banks we took an ocean kayak ride and I managed to fall out and break my thumb. And on our honeymoon in Punta Cana, we went boogey boarding and I came home with stitches in my chin.

So you can understand my hesitation now that summer has come and Will is at the exploring age. We live five minutes from the beach so I decided that not taking him to the ocean at all would be a childhood depriving bad mommy decision. Last Sunday, with Adam working, I packed up the beach bag with towels, sand toys, lotion, extra swim diapers (note to other mommys: these don't hold poop), water, and snacks, loaded the baby in the car and threw the stroller in the trunk. I decided to head to Lynch Park figuring it was a safe first beach. It has a large playground and grassy area, so if all else failed we could just play on the playground.

Well..nothing failed. Will had a blast! After finding a place to park the stroller up on the grass where I could still see it and didn't think anyone would steal it, we sat on the beach and dug holes, buried feet, buried hands, and even ate a little sand. It was great. I was thrilled that he was having such a good time. I turned around quickly to reach into the bag and grab a real snack while Will took the opportunity to make a getaway towards.....the OCEAN.

I quickly got up and followed him and tried not to panic. I figured he would get to the edge, decide that it was freezing as the northern atlantic tends to be and quickly retreat. But instead...he went right in. He plopped his little bum down in the wave and splashed around. I had no choice but..to get wet. After my feet went numb..things got a little better. I splashed around with Will and we began exploring a little. We found the normal ocean things, seaweed, shells, and an old band-aid (so gross!) and it wasn't bad at all. Watching Will find so much enjoyment in the ocean made me forget all the things that I hate about it. I felt so great that I hadn't missed out on this opportunity to share this with Will. The rest of the moms were sitting under their umbrellas in their beach chairs yelling at their kids playing in the water. But I was playing too! I always thought I was the one that would teach Will things at this age, but now I can't wait to see what other fun things Will is going to show me.

And if you think the happy day at the beach ended happy, you're wrong. Afterwards, I had to haul a soggy, wet, sandy baby through the parking lot, back to the car, into the house and then into the tub, which I then had to clean immediately after Will went to bed. But it was definitely worth it and I'll probably do it again tomorrow.