Beach trip 2016

This year was the best year yet for Lane at the beach.

He had NO FEAR of the ocean and was completely independent in fighting the waves, sitting in the water, and making sand castles, which was nice for me since I could barely stand up out of the beach chair (read "very pregnant").  Despite my son not knowing how to swim, I was the mother a good ten feet away yelling "STOP!  Turn around!  Come closer!" over bodies of sun-tanning teenagers and I cared not at all!

My goal between ages 4 and 5 for Lane are to get him swimming.  Next beach trip year I'll have an almost 1 year old in addition to my fearless independent kid who doesn't think twice about running away, going too deep, making sure he's close to me - so I need to make sure he can at least hold his breath.  I'm serious when I say he has no reservations about losing me in a crowd.  

Hi first sandcastle!

Feeling the water with Aunt Karla

Uncle Beard taking him out in the ocean

This says "Dad" and "MomE"

Independent.

No pants, don't care

 As for meeeee?

 I got the solid vacation I needed.  Single-parenting for a full week for the first time was both harder and easier than I thought.  Waking up at 6:15 every day was the hardest part but then I got some moments like this-

which made it all worth it.  

I love the beach.  On my first day, I saw one single dolphin swim the coast line.  I got centered, I got quiet, I got moody with my family too which allowed me to take out some pent-up frustration around people who love me even when I'm a bitch.  I bought oil pastels and an art journal and colored, smudged, smeared - badly.  I watched Simone Biles kill it in the olympics.  I wrote a lot of angry letters that never need to see the light of day, and it felt good to get some poison out.  Then, at the end I wrote a lot of love letters to myself and Colt and my children and I came back with those feelings bigger than all other feelings.

See other beach posts from when Lane was TINY here and here