not-back-to-school beach party

Who said the beaches are never crowded after Labor Day? They certainly never showed up during one of the CT homeschooling community's Not-Back-To-School beach days! The weather cooperated perfectly for us yesterday -- it was hot, humid, and every bit as summer-like as any day this summer was. We would have felt really bad for the kids that were stuck at desks in school, except we were having too much fun to really think about it!

The kids who brought Boogie Boards were more than willing to share, and both my kids manage to finagle a ride or two. (That's J on the board in this one.) One thing I love about getting together with other homeschoolers is how NICE the kids all are to each other. 9 and 10 year olds playing with 2 and 3 year olds, everybody looking out for everyone else.

A shot of quite a few of the kids playing in the surf. While my kids and I were in there, a big school of tiny fish came by and were all around us. We had a great time following them along the shoreline, watching them swim in and out of everyone's legs, and seeing them respond as a group, as if they were just one big fish. It got my kids scrambling when we got home for their "Swimmy" book (by Leo Leoni, where a small black fish joins a school of small red fish and acts as their "eye" so they can pretend to be a much larger fish).

If J had his way, we would have arrived at dawn and not left until it got dark out. In addition to having fun in the surf, he had a great time exploring the far reaches of the beach with some buddies. Another nice thing about an event with so many homeschooling families, everyone is watching out for everyone else's kid. Makes for very stress-free visiting opportunities.

Zoo Boy wore out about half way into the visit and took a nap on the blanket under our big umbrella. He's not a big fan of the hot humid weather (takes after me too much), although he loved playing in the waves (such that they were, it was a pretty calm day on the Sound) and boogie boarding with the other kids until he felt like he'd had enough of the intense sun.

A nice way to spend a day at "school"!