(those are not our kids. I have no idea who those kids are.
for explanation, read the end of this post.)Our little family just got back from our annual Memorial Day weekend at the beach.
It was lovely.
I remarked several times about how nice it was watching our boys play on the beach now that we're not trying to contain an infant in a little tent, change diapers in said little tent (NIGHTMARE), constantly slapping sand out of their hands and away from their mouths and spontaneously throwing water directly in their eyes when a grain of sand looks threatening.
Now, they've earned a little freedom. Manny enjoyed eating whatever he could find on the beach. Even the little mussels (shell included) proved to provide a little nourishment at one point (no, we didn't mean for that to happen). Isaiah is now able to run free from our chairs to the spot in the sand where he's playing near the water. We feel fine about it because of his healthy fear of the water, the fact that we always pick a spot near the lifeguard and we can always see him.
But one little tip for ya'll at no extra charge: if your lifeguards offer little plastic bracelets with their stand number on it for the kids, take them! About 5 minutes after I put Isaiah's on him, he disappeared. It was an awful and LONG 3 minutes before I found him again...way down the beach.
My father-in-law was up in the loose sand at our chairs and I was a ways in front of him with the kids, playing and watching them (our nephew and neice were there too). I had sent Isaiah up to him for a snack. He went, got his snack and my father-in-law sent him back to me...again, I was directly in front of him. Somehow, Isaiah got disoriented and instead of walking straight to me, he took a hard left and started walking through the crowds. Both my father-in-law and I were dealing with other kids and didn't see him make that turn.
I took off in one direction and Josh in the other. After walking for what felt like a really long time, I saw his poor little frame walking slowly through all the sunbathers, looking from side to side and calling "Mommy? Mommy?" I had just had that awful thought of "what if I never see him again? What if I never get him back?" I prayed and there he was. He said, "Mommy, I was starting to get worried. I didn't see you. I didn't know where you were."
I held his hand for a long time. We talked about what to do if he ever gets lost again, rehearsing his full name and ours and how to look for the yellow flag and big, white chair.
The Lord allowed us to find him, and we are really grateful. I can't imagine what parents of real missing children must go through. I don't think it's a coincidence that a few days before we left to go to the beach, I sat and read every detail about every child and studied the faces that came on the little "Missing Children" insert in my mailbox. I never do that. They are a group I've never thought to really pray for, but I think I'll start.
But other than that little incident, we had gobs and gobs of fun spending hours playing and relaxing in the perfect weather, going out to eat and just being there. My nephew now thinks I have ninja skills. And I do.
One little thing I should mention is that when we got home last night, we realized that our computer will no longer turn on (!!!!). I'm using our little laptop, but the other computer has all our pictures on it so I can't do my garden post yet. So sad! Hold on to your pictures because we're working hard to get it back up and running!
I'm really looking forward to doing it....especially since our little garden grew like CRAZY the few days we were gone. I think it was glad to finally get rid of me with my constant hovering and weird staring all the time.
What's that thing about the watched pot again? :)
