The best unmade plans...

So I guess I spoke too soon when I said it'd be a few weeks before we went to the beach!

Last night George came home and suggested we do just that, since he'd finished up most of his homework yesturday. I was right in the middle of making dinner, but was at a stopping point, so I stuck everything back in the fridge and got ready. Raia had been begging to ride her bike all day, and I'd been telling her she would have to wait until daddy got home so that I could take her out, but she was perfectly content to ditch that plan for a trip to the beach! We brought her kite along.

The sun was shinning the whole way there, we turned on the A/C in the car, and I was lamenting having forgotten the sun screen. I had visions of kite flying and running from the waves in bare feet, and taking Patrick to listen to the waves for the first time. And of course taking pictures of it all!

Ten minutes from the coast the coastal fog rolled in. By the time we got there it was drizzly and wet. Raia and I tried to fly her kite, but it wouldn't fly (even though there was a wind). The fog obscured the view of the water from the beach, and the tide was out so it was too far of a walk to go and see the waves in the chilly mist. We were there for two hours and ended up spending most of that time in the indoor arcade a block from the beach. Raia played some games and earned some tickets to exchange for prizes, and sat on George's lap while he played some games that had moving seats. Errol ran around the place (it was practically empty), and Patrick sat in his sling, looking around. We grabbed some McDonald's for dinner on our way back home, and got home a little after 10pm and put the kids straight to bed.

It wasn't an entirely wasted trip though. With the kids sleeping most of the way there, and all of the way back, George and I got to have our longest stretch of uninterupted conversation time we've had in a long time. We talked about future roadtrip destinations, and where we might like to move to some day, and other things without someone tugging on our sleeves or asking for a sippy of water or crying to be changed. That made the trip worth it. :)