the kids and i went to the beach yesterday. sasha fell asleep in the car on the way (which is a sure sign that waking up at 6 am is far too early for her) and then i couldn't find the beach that is on the navigation map and so tommy shrieked at me for about ten minutes (while i drove to the beach that i knew). surprisingly, there is now a bit of organization at this beach, with port-o-potties *and* volunteer lifeguards. that was a bit of a relief, because taking the kids to the beach is a nightmare for me. i don't have life jackets or any sort of floating device for them and i have a great fear of them being swept away. luckily (or not??) they have a great fear of the water (their strongest insult for each other is, i want you to fall down in water!!) and pretty much just stayed at the edge where the water lapped at the sand.

we had a lot of fun! we dug in the sand and splashed in the water. i took each kid in the waves with me (one at a time, and not far from the edge) and although hiro liked it (as he clung to me for dear life), sasha and tommy weren't all that impressed. sasha got a mouth full of sea water and didn't feel too keen about the beach after that. hiro had great fun and tommy loved digging. we all collected a lot of sand (i think i had a pound of sand in my bathing suit when i got home!!) which probably means i won't be taking them back to the beach any time soon.

afterward we went out for lunch and (oops) left a lot of sand behind us. ah well, next time we'll go home first!