Life's a Beach

Today was our second trip to the beach. I didn't take my camera last week because I didn't know how high-maintenance Owen would be and wasn't sure I'd have time to snap pictures while also trying to prevent his munching on sand. Last week went fairly well, so I decided to give picture-taking a try this week.
We had a beautiful beach day, and lots of friends showed up to play with. Mostly Sophie played on her own, near her friends but not really with them. That's kind of a characteristic of the age she's at, I think. Her favorite past time at the beach is playing in the sand. Though she does venture out into the water now and again. I've warned her not to go deeper than her belly button, which is easy to enforce since she rarely goes past her thighs.

This, however, is a picture of her recovering from her near-drowning experience. GASP!!What??!! Settle down Black Grandma...and Janelle...She's just fine. I'd just started to change Owen's clothes and looked down at him for 10 seconds when I looked up to see another mom hurtling through the water to a flailing Sophie. Sophie couldn't get her feet underneath herself in water that was a little too deep to get her hands down without her face going under the water. I couldn't even get out of my chair before the other mom was there, dragging her out of the water, so it wasn't a long ordeal. Scary, nevertheless. Sophie was drenched (she'd told her Dad she was going to hold her breath and go under the water today--I don't think that's what she'd meant), but she didn't cry. Her little heart was racing as I held her on my lap for a while. Evidently some larger kids had run past splashing and it knocked Sophie off balance. The mom had seen the whole thing and was running to her aid before she'd even fully gone under. So, all was okay, but it scared us all. Thank the Lord another mom was nearby and watching!! After that, Sophie was a little more timid about the water again (like she needed any help with that!) and stuck mostly to the sand around the water. She did venture in with me one time, holding my hand, but some kids splashed us as they ran by and she quickly said, "Let's get out of the water. Let's get out of the water." She wasn't upset, but she was done. She still had a great time at the beach, though mostly on dry land or in water up to her ankles.

Last week, when I'd stand Owen up in the water, he'd lift one foot out and whine until I picked him up. This week, he loved it!! He played in the sand a long time and even splashed in the water. He also loved it when I'd hold him and swing his legs through the water. When I'd hold him out of the water, on my hip, he'd grunt and squirm around until I'd swing him through the water again. It was great!

He did eat sand about 3 times, but it's good for roughage, right??

Eating lunch in the shade

Sophie's buddy Selma