The Beach

The Tuttle-Magee clan went to Virginia Beach this weekend to take advantage of our proximity to a real, live beach! The Oregon Coast, albeit pretty, doesn't really offer a lot. I always say you can go to the "beach" and look at the ocean, but it's not like you can dive in, or even build sand castles, unless you have a sweatshirt on. So the idea of vacationing at Cannon Beach or Seaside never really appealed to me. Virginia Beach, on the other hand, has the summer vacation appeal.

The weather predictions were cooler than normal, and after living in the Pacific Northwest for a while, 75 to me meant "bring a light jacket". But, by the time our toes touched the water Saturday morning around 8am, the sun was blazing and the temperature was rising. And of course, Louisa was eager to jump into the ocean, or the pool, as she called it.

Saturday morning we went on a "Family Fun" pirate ship ride. They had young actors portraying pirates with weak accents but great enthusiasm and a number of activities for all the kids on board. We really enjoyed it. But I'm not good on boats and had to watch the horizon very intently in order to not vomit all over. The coolest part of the trip were the numerous dolphin sightings. We encountered the dolphins almost immediately and watched them for nearly twenty minutes. Louisa didn't understand why she couldn't just jump in and swim with them so we had to hold her tight as she tried to crawl over.

We spent the afternoon at the beach and most of the time in the water. Louisa is truly my grandmother reincarnated as she is so brave in the water and would be happy to spend the rest of her life swimming. After hours of swimming we finally had to drag her away so we could eat. She had refused food all day as she was very focused on getting in the pool.

The next morning before we left we took one more dip in the ocean and it was heartbreaking to hear Louisa weep as we walked away from the water. I promised we would return as soon as we could.

Sunday afternoon, Crysten and her boyfriend came over for a swim and dinner, and we had a neighborhood party to attend. This is when I am, again, so pleased that we live where we live (thank you Crysten!). At one point, two children, not mine, were in our living room playing with toys, while Louisa was running around outside with other children, Amos and Andrew were on our friend's front steps drinking wine and Crysten and I were cooking dinner. It was the kind of neighborhood evening you want for your child. Open doors and children racing (and alcohol for the parents).

We'll have more ocean photos soon, I need to get them off of Amos's phone. Also, we dropped my phone in the ocean. Whatever. Smart phones kill brain cells so I don't really mind if it doesn't work. As long as I can still call my sister everyday to tell her what I ate.