saturday sojourn

We're really enjoying our Saturday evenings at the shore. After putting in a full day's work around the farm, there's still enough time to drive down to the beach and arrive just about the time it's starting to cool down, yet we still have a couple of hours to enjoy ourselves. By the time we get there, the crowds have all left, and we pretty much have the beach to ourselves. And since the waves aren't intense (this is Long Island Sound, so the ocean waters are broken up by Long Island before they reach the beach), we can be relaxed and give the boys plenty of space for exploring on their own without worry about them getting swept out to sea.

Zoo Boy waits his turn in the surf with The Map Man. I don't really like swimming in ocean water -- too cold, too salty/sticky, just not my idea of fun. But The Map Man grew up going to the Jersey Shore with his family, so he loves the ocean and the beach. (Although he complains that beaches on LIS are hardly beaches, what with the rockier sand and the lack of waves.)

J flashes his muscles in front of our blanket. Since there's not many other folks around this time of day, we can park really close to the pavilion, walk through, and just drop our stuff as soon as we hit the beach. That's always something I've not liked about going to the beach -- all the hauling of stuff. But this way, we're able to park so close that if we need something, we can just run back to the car and get it, and the stuff we do bring with us doesn't have to be carried far. It's taken out all the stress of beach-going, and we're left with just the fun part!

The boys play on the lifeguard chair. The state is a little strapped for funding at this point, and this particular part of the beach does not have a lifeguard. It's a really big beach, so there are other parts with lifeguards, but we're both watching the kids, so we don't worry about it. And it leaves the fancy high chair available for pretend play.


Sunset, time to pack up and head home. This park is on a curved penninsula, so you can almost see the sunset over the water -- a little unusual for an East Coast beach!

There are a lot of really cool salt marsh areas and trails and places to explore at this park, we're looking forward to checking it all out with the kids in the Autumn. For now, while the weather's hot, we'll just keep letting them enjoy the beach and the water.