Dipping Our Toes in the Water
A Mama's Moment #27
Our beach days were some of the most memorable days of earlier childhood. There was just something about the 45-60 minute drive out to the coast that made our day trips so blatantly Californian.
On those days, we would pack up all of our sand toys, towels, snacks, water, a beach tent, and a beach cart, and pack them into the back of our Honda Odyssey. On the way there, we would navigate through hills and steep cliffs with no railing, all for the pay-off of making it to that oceanic horizon. As a person with a fear of heights, this says something about just how important those beach days were for me.
After our arrival, we would then have to navigate over some sort of dune scape, or climb down beach cliff trails to get to our spot for the day. If we were visiting a beach near a tourist destination, we would just have to navigate the crowds to find a less densely populated spot.
I thoroughly enjoyed each of the beaches we visited. Each one had its own unique scenery and vibe to it. However, my favorite beaches were the more secluded ones, where only 2 or 3 other people might have visited. These were the hardcore beach fans, the ones who didn't mind wearing jackets or traipsing across a quarter mile of calf blasting sand dunes to get to a spot.
Some of my favorite activities included visiting tide pools, collecting stones, and digging sand pits. Oddly, we rarely collected shells because there really weren't any on the beaches. On the off chance that we did come across some shells, they were clam shells that were discarded from the seagulls’ meals.
Because the water was generally quite chilly at all times, we would rarely go down to play in the water. But on occasion, we would walk down to where the waves would lap at the shore and take off our shoes.
Most of the children were excited to do this, but I had one who had a very healthy concern about going too close to the water. This was alleviated over time, but it is something that sticks out in memory for me about our early beach days.
Even though we now make our home in the desert, I am so grateful that they were able to incorporate beach days into their early childhood experiences.