May Beach Day

I was giddy with excitement! Yesterday was our first beach day for the summer! Forecast: mostly sunny, light breezes, 78º. Yes! And it was perfection. The Neuse River was placid enough under the ferry as we drove over.

Ahhhhhhhhh ... isn't that lovely? We all exhaled loudly with delight as we set down our beach chairs, releasing months of winter blues and school stress. Summer! Beach! Yes!

Other beach bathers sat around us, but not too many.  I like to people-watch. I determined yesterday that I -- even I ! -- could have safely worn a bikini, because so many other large women were bravely baring parts that are better hidden. (That's a joke, you know. I'll never wear a bikini!) More fun to observe were the tiny children with buckets and spades, and their parents.

I know that Anna has been longing so for the beach. It is utter luxury and relaxation for her, and since she'll start a hard summer of work with campers soon, she deserved a beach day.

Pom Pom will be glad to know I took good reading along. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two chapters of The Wind in the Willows. I'd forgotten how delightful Grahame's style is. If I feel energetic, I might do a post on that. Or not.

Anna and I strolled the beach under the pretenses of finding large shells. Really, it's just something to do, to pass time on the beach. It gives you a break between snoozing, reading, and dipping toes into the cool water. There's a rock jetty in one spot:

Moist seaweed of some sort:

A few spots had thousands of tiny shells, shiny with sea and sun.

I giggled to watch two tiny girls chasing the sand pipers - how funny! I snapped this seagull as he kept his distance from the children.

The waves were strong and big enough to support a few brave surfers.

Julia spent the entire time -- about 3 hours -- in the water with her boogie board, riding waves. I expected her to be exhausted.

But no! It was Philip who was exhausted from the beating he got in the ocean! All three kids got a bit roasted by sun, in spite of bottles of sun screen I took along for them.

The wind was perfect for flying our kite. It went up immediately without any fuss, I let the entire string out, and I walked my kite down the beach with less effort than you'd walk a dog. I love a kite on the beach!
The Neuse glimmered like a bath of mercury beneath us as we traveled home, tired and relaxed. This was a perfect beach day, and I'm ready to plan the next one!