Sand In Our Toes

We just returned from a lovely weekend at the beach. We are salty, sandy and a little sun-kissed (despite my thorough application and reapplication of sunscreen). The weather was perfect, the beach was not too crowded and there was no oil anywhere near the area where we stayed. We felt incredibly lucky.

I made a few mental notes while we were vacationing (does a regular 2-day weekend at the beach even qualify as a vacation):

Why isn't pool water cold these days? Is this something I just didn't notice when I was younger or are pools truly warmer? I can't remember the last time I got into a breath-catching, jump-inducing, honest to god cold pool.

Why do kids like the pool at the condo more than the beach? Or rather, am I the only person who has kids that prefer the pool to the actual beach and was I like that as a kid?

Why does just about every family that goes to the beach insist on taking one of those ridiculous family photos where everyone is dressed in khaki and white and am I the only person who is bothered by this?

Why does being at the beach make you feel like you need to live at the beach and cause you to daydream for hours on end about just what you should do to make that happen?

While I continue to ruminate, I leave you with a picture of beach feet. I took this at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. I thought I really wanted to sleep late and was grumpy at first, but after a few minutes I realized all I really wanted to do was watch James explore the beach for the first time in his life.