Saturday, September 03, 2005

Sundown at Crescent Beach


Floater
Originally uploaded by Allan & Cheryl.

After a long Sabbath afternoon nap we packed up some sandwiches and juice and headed down to Crescent Beach for a last "summer" sunset.

Summer is definitely over - there is a chill to the air in the evening. The evening breeze has a bite to it. The sun is setting earlier and earlier. The summer camp at Crescent Beach has shut down and taken their floating dock away. The lifeguard station on the point is abandoned and a sign "No lifeguard on duty - swim at your own risk" is now posted there instead.

Still the M's were exhuberant. Michael, Melissa and Maddy took off racing down the now-familiar beach trail. It was they who reminded US that, "We have to walk first so Mommy can get her exercise and THEN we go in the water."

They, like their Mommy and Auntie Bethy, were determained to go into the water - chilly air or not! The twins squealed, laughed, and bounced in the wagon down the trail (not all the way tonight) and back again.



Back again because it was too windy out on the main beach. We walked back towards the north beach and found a quiet sandy pocket beach below the retaining wall.

Michael was the first one in. He waded out to knee deep, dropped his swim trunks, and proceeded to pee in the Pacific! And in full view of other evening beach walkers.

We were temporarily horrified into silence until Allan finally managed to blurt, "MICHAEL did you just pee in the ocean!?"

"I had to pee," said Michael matter-of-factly.

"But that's the water that you swim in," said his father

"That's okay," said Michael.

"Well the fish go in that water and it's a big ocean," I said, drawing a GLARE from the other parental unit. "But Michael - don't EVER show your private parts in public!!" -- myself being more worried about possible pedophiles with digi-cams than the pee in the pacific.

The twins were already in their fleece jackets and stayed far, FAR away from the water: 5-15 feet away from the water. They are the most sensible toddlers we have had. When it is not really hot out - they don't go near water. They don't want to be cold and wet. So they had fun playing with sand (and STICKS apparantly - I didn't see THAT until looking at the photos/videos at home).

I took to the water with Melissa, Michael, and Maddy. Melissa did NOT go very far in - but Michael, Maddy, Michael and I got completely soaked.



I swam out and back a bit and demonstrated floating to the amusement of Melissa and Michael. Maddy was not amused.

"No Mommy. No Mommy. Come BACK Mommy."

A summer of evenings at the beach has not yet freed her of the fear that I will go too far out to sea and be: (A) eaten by a shark or (B) caught by a diver and put in an aquarium.

Such is the downside of letting a small child watch too much of "Finding Nemo.

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