Day 5...
After lounging much of the morning, I decided it was time to once again get in the ocean. The wind has calmed considerably since our first days here, and consequently the surf has done the same. Ginger, who is still recovering from the surgery on her head, had a little pain this morning, so she went back to nap and me and the boys ventured out.
Gone was the seaweed and the other junk that was stirred up in the water from the wind-blown days. The ocean on this day was much more clear, and even though it is calmer, the surf is still breaking right at the beach line pretty stout.
We weren't in five minutes when Cory got bit by something. Not sure what, but he had two little teeth marks at the base of his foot. His day in the water was over, save wondering around at beach line and letting the surf roll around his feet.
But Cody was the highlight. If you know my youngest son, he is the excitable sort. Adventurous and loves to have fun. To explain what he did today, I have to tell a story from several years ago.
When he was 5 or 6, I found a deal on Priceline one weekend, and just he and I flew out to Los Angelas for a coupla days. We'd never seen the Pacific Ocean. We rented a car and just drove for a day or so looking around. But he wanted to get in the ocean. He'd never seen an ocean, much less get into one. It was Springtime, so it was pretty chilly. But he didn't care. After getting over the scare of the first wave hitting him, he sat down in the edge of the surf, freezing, and just hooped and hollared as wave after wave came and crashed in on him. He had a blast, and it was so much fun sitting there, not only watching him, but listening to his obvious enjoyment.
He did that again yesterday. Yes, he's almost 15 now, but he sat at the beach line and yelled and screamed like he was a little boy as the waves would blast him up on the beach and then roll him back out in the water. I laughed for half an hour just listening to him. Later, he sat in the sand as the surf rolled in and out until his swimsuit literally bulged with sand. He had to get into the ocean and remove his trunks to let the sand out just so he could walk back.
As bad as I felt for Cory for the bite on his foot, Cody made it up for both of us as we laughed at him the whole time.
Just as we started to leave, a young lady came jogging by. Appealing as she was, we were forced to linger a bit, and Cody was very tempted to follow her in a jog. His better judgment prevailed and we headed back.
As it started to rain later and on into the evening, we stayed in and watched movies and ate in the house.
This is the reason we never left our kids behind when we went on vacation. I'm in no position to judge others, but Ginger and I NEVER went on vacation without our boys. We had a family so we could do things as a family, and I never understood others who can leave their kids behind when they want to go have some fun. Just never made sense to me.
There will come a time, very soon, as it turns out, when our boys will be out on their own, and we'll have plenty of time to ourselves. And I absolutely love the opportunities Ginger and I have to be alone when they arrive, but our time with our children is becoming very fleeting, and I never wanted to miss the chance to be with them and enjoy their company.
Yesterday reminded me of why.
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