Beachy Keen

Yesterday, we decided to go to the beach to watch the sunset with the kids, and I wanted to get some cute pictures of them playing in the sand. We surprisingly got a close parking spot, which was very nice because Mr. Whiney Pants still can't handle too much walking on his poor wittle toe. I had Atticus in the Ergo, and Bea was in a Baby Bjorn on Monte. As we neared the steps to walk down to the sand, Monte looked at me and asked "Where are you going?" I was a little thrown off "Um, down to the shore, what do you mean?" he then responded, "I don't want to get my (broken toe boot thing) shoe dirty on the sand" I stared at him for a moment, still confused, "When I said 'let's go to the beach and watch the sunset', what part of that translated to 'from the pier'? We always go down to the sand when we come to the beach. Can't you just rinse the sand off the thing?" He shakes his head. "Well, take the boot off then, weirdo." He looked at me like I was asking him to lick white dog shit on the boardwalk. Basically we both had the same look on our faces, and neither one of us was going to budge. Since we were racing the sun, I just told him to hand over Bea, and I'd trek down to the sand with the kids by my lonesome.

So there I was, carrying two babies, diaper bag, and giant camera while trudging across the sand. Aurora was crying and begging me to carry her because it was "too hard to walk", and I obviously didn't have enough kids in my arms. Ariel was skipping along beside me, like the perfect little sunflower that she is. When I completed the 100 yard journey to the shore, I plopped the babies down, and the girls started digging in the sand. Whew. The light was fading fast. Mental note: next time, arrive at the beach when the sun is actually above the horizon line, not below.

The girls ran down towards the water, and I started to get a little nervous, so I scooped up the babies and ran down to join them. Holding two 17 lb. babies while trying to take pictures of the girls frolicking along the shore, with our giant heavy camera, is no easy feat. If I tried to put the babies down, they cried (plus I was scared of a big wave sweeping them away), but I didn't want to set them down too far behind me because I am paranoid about kidnapping, plus Atticus had already eaten his fair share of sand a few minutes earlier and he didn't really need any more. I could see Monte watching us from the pier above. Damn toe. Suddenly a wave swooshed up and knocked Ariel down in the water. SHIIIIT! What do I do now? Horrible images flooded my mind. I had the babies in both arms, and I couldn't set them down. Damn toe. Ariel manages to climb out and cries "My princess sandals are gone!" Great. "We'll get you new sandals!" Just then, we see one wash up on shore and Ariel runs down to get it. Then, a good samaritan finds the other and brings it to her. I hear "Ooh, ah, eeh, ahh, oooh, ah, eeeh!", and I look up to see Monte hobbling towards us in the sand... holding on to his precious bootie.