AHHHH ~ the beach in January. What could be better than that?
We had a snap of colder weather. It was a nice break from the norm, but our house doesn't have central heat (it does, but it doesn't work) so I was really cold. I carried my little space heater around with me everywhere trying to warm up. I didn't mind it too much, but I am glad it has warmed up.
Martin Luther King day we took advantage of the warmer temps and went to the beach. Just needed a break. Needed to get away from reality. I guess going to the beach for us isn't really escaping reality. We live very close to the beach - but it still feel like an escape sometimes.
I LOVE to take pictures of my kiddos at the beach. I think they love it out there more than we do. It is fun to see them play, run, jump, scream with excitement, imagine, pretend - no worries, no frustrations, no grudges, no hurts, not a care in the world except for having fun. Oh to be a kid again!
Got a little sun, rest and time with my sweet family - goal accomplished!
Freedom!!

"Mommy, take a picture of my shell!!"
So we were out at the beach, minding our own business, and just enjoying our time together.
side note: most of the time, people here are pretty standoffish, to themselves. You can't get much interaction with strangers and lots of people are just down right rude (I guess that can be pretty much anywhere :) But then you encounter an occasional stranger who just can't help him or herself, and feels the need to intrude in your business without being invited at all.
I guess that's the other side of the rude coin. It's either ignoring or intruding - where is the happy medium?
My hubby and I were sitting in our beach chairs, watching Ben and Luke play in the water while Ty looked on from the edge....
Ty was eating sand. It's just something he does. Most babies I know at this age put everything into the mouth. I refuse to try to keep him on a blanket out of the sand. All of my kids have eaten sand, probably more than I know, and they have never gotten sick from it, and are healthy, alive and well. It comes right out the other end, along with everything else that goes in
. He is also a third born child, which pretty much means WE DON'T CARE! (haha, just kidding. Those of you with more than two kids know exactly what I mean!
)
So this woman, a complete stranger, was walking on the beach past the boys. She stopped at Ty and looked down at him with this look of disgust. She looked back at us and said "He's eating sand!" I just smiled and said "ok", shrugging my shoulders. That obviously wasn't enough to convince her that we had the situation under control. She then proceeded to lean down and scrape the sand out of his hand, telling him no and looking back at us like "why don't you do something?" I'm thinking "this lady can NOT be serious!!" So I had to get up (heaven forbid) and walk up to convince her that it was fine and that he was ok. I said something silly like "I guess he needs the minerals in the sand." HA! What I wanted to say... well I won't write it here, and really I am like the most non-confrontational person in the world, so I would have never said it anyway! But COME ON!!!
Kids are kids, they do crazy things! Most parents are just doing the best they can and it is totally not my place in the world to judge others or to tell other people what they should or should not do with their kids. I guess it's an area where I am a bit sensitive right now, being judged by others for what we do with our kids (or don't do). So this poor woman just stumbled up to us and picked at a raw scab at the wrong time. Funny how that happens.
Overall, it was a great day though. We are learning we can't get away from people, and the Lord doesn't want us to get away. He wants us to deal with other people, to love, to forgive, to get over offenses, to move on. He wants us to be more like Him, above all. And then show His love and light to others. Period.
I'm learning... aren't we all?
Ty, enjoying his snacks:
Crackers with sand dip, yummy!
Yes, he was eating shells too! hehe.
The water was COLD, but this little fish didn't mind!



Pretending to be sea turtles...
Not only does he like to eat the sand, he also enjoyed practicing his walking in it.
I give up:
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