Friends and Sand and Water and Sky and Wind and Chocolate on Top

We then met up with Holly after work and her little Robbie and although weather was too cool and very windy for swimming or even extensive beach lounging, we made the trip to St. Joseph anyhow. Robbie was walking and cruising about, eating a bit of sand- or at least as much sand as cracker in his sandy hand, and still not too sure about the water :). Alexander loved the beach, running with Papa and being buried in the sand. After a bit of bribing (it was very windy) he dared go near the water and then we couldn’t pull him away– letting the waves lap over his feet, ankles, knees… “okay, that’s far enough Alex!” He put up his little ‘gas pump’ stick in the sand and wrote ‘letters’ on the shore. He was too busy running around to sit and do any digging but was very excited about someone else’s monstrous hole they’d left for his enjoyment. He called all the seagulls ‘ducks’ in spite of being corrected several times, and was happy just to hang out with our little crew. Aidan was content to snack with Mama and Holly and Robbie on the beach, and chat a bit on the blanket as long as we kept his face out of the wind. He touched his toes to the water with a little shiver, but not too much reaction. Just soaking it all in, I suppose. When all was done, we hiked up the long hill with our strollers and Alexander waddled behind in his pull-ups (shorts were a wet, muddy, sandy mess) to the car for a fresh change. We bid farewell to our friends and made a last-minute stop at our favorite South Bend Chocolate Factory for some choice cheesecake, mint chocolate chip ice cream for Alex, and luscious milk for Aidan. We were glad for the little family ‘vacationette’ day, and were thrilled to watch Alexander loving the beach so very much. We are already planning on a return trip next year, and hoping for a more summery day.