The Beach

I took Justin & Benjamin to the beach tonight. Yes, I said tonight. We arrived in Virginia Beach around 6 p.m. Now, I realize that would   not be most people's definition of  "night." However, it is far later than I have ever been to the beach, even when we were on vacation and staying at the beach. Usually if I am not out the door by noon, we just won't go. However, I had a lunch meeting that ran late and didn't want to not go to the beach another day.

I knew I would gripe & grumble all the way there... then be glad I went.
                                                                                                     Which I did... and then I was.

Most folks "round these parts" like going to the Outer Banks. Not me. I like being in the middle of the tourist city with loud jets flying overhead and neon-lit boardwalk shops. I was surprised by how many people were still on the beach when we got there, still coming to the beach after we arrived, and staying back at the beach after we left.



I have always said that I like the idea of going to the beach.

I find the sight, the sound, and the smell of the beach peaceful and soul-reviving.

                                                                                                                              The sand? Not so much so.

Well, the last time I took Benjamin to the beach, our day was spent like this...

Today? A world of difference. I  had suspected that Benjamin would be apprehensive of the water. I don't know what I was thinking. One word I often use to describe this kid is- FEARLESS. The kid will climb anything and one of his first words was "jump." He wanted to be in the water. He wanted to be knocked down and drug around by the water. He wanted to stand in it, jump in it, and sit in it. When Justin's wave board got away from him for a few moments, Benjamin was quick to chase it and jump on it and was elated when the water drifted him away on it. Thus, coralling Benjamin at the beachfront was much more a fully-engaged adventure than a "soul-reviving" experience.

What Benjamin was apprehensive about though were the sand fleas that Justin kept unearthing to show him.