Part 2. The Beach.

So finally, after all the delays and hassle we arrive at the sea front. Being a nice sunny day I fully expected to see hordes of people taking up every available space, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were lots of clear spaces.

Keeping an eye out for dogs, groups of single people, and large families I chose our spot. Blanket and towels were laid out, off came my shirt and that, I thought, is that. The next thing was sun block. Being only 2 yrs old he has to be smothered in sun block. I had never realised how slippery a wriggling 2 yr old is when half covered in sun block. If I wasn't so grumpy I could have laughed, it was like trying to hold a wet haddock that didn't want to be held.

Anyway, task completed I attempted to sit down and relax. Then came the next interruption. " Grandpa, water" and there is my grandson pointing to the sea. Trying to ignore it I hope grandma will take him, but no. She is far too busy reading Take a Break or something. Hand in hand Grandpa and grandson wander down to the sea for a paddle.

He has never been to the seaside before and his face was a picture and he wasn't the slightest bit afraid of either the water or the cold. Unlike grandpa who was not even going to get his feet wet if he could help it. For the umpteenth time today I don't get my way. Then came the funniest thing of the day and I laughed, yes I actually laughed. Grandson was fine as the waves gently washed over his feet and up the beach, but when they receded and ran back to the sea the trouble started. It must have made him dizzy or something because he started to wobble, then he fell on his bum into the water. The look on his face was priceless. Lifting him up again I held his hand to stop him falling again but he was having none of that. It was like he was determined to conquer the sea on his own. Time after time he fell but he wouldn't give up. I was helpless with laughter, it had been worth all the hassle just to see this.
Grandma had joined us by this time, she must have finished her magazine. She caught all of this on video and I will post a clip later.

He was shivering with cold by this time so we dragged him back up the beach to dry off. I say dragged because he wanted to stay in the water. However, grandma mentioned ice cream and he decided he wanted to sit on the beach now. Guess who had to go back to the shop, yep, grandpa, again.
10 minutes later, armed with cornets I again arrived back at my towel ready to relax. The ice cream kept things quiet for a few minutes and I was starting to think he may have a sleep.

I won't go into detail about the rest of the day but suffice to say that grandpa had to build sand castles, have another paddle, return to the car twice for wipes and then a change of clothes for grandson. Grandma was turning a nice shade of golden brown sitting there relaxing in the sun.

Finally grandson started to look sleepy but instead of letting him nod off in the shade and allowing grandpa to do the same, grandma decided that we should head off home so that he could sleep in the car. Packing up and playing my part as a pack mule we set off on the return exodus to the car.

Sitting in the stationary queue of traffic trying to get back on the road home, grandma says," it has been a lovely relaxing day, we will have to do this again and bring all the grandkids".

That was when I finally flipped!!!!!!!