Beach Day

Yesterday, we decided to drive out to Rockaway Beach, and we had a fabulous, beachy morning. Lucia has loved the beach since the very first time she saw one, and her infatuation only gets more intense with every visit. This time, we planned to stay for an hour and ended up staying for three—and we probably could have stayed another hour at least. She loved sitting by our beach blanket, digging in the sand and filling her bucket. She loved collecting clamshells. She loved running into the water and scream-laughing as waves crashed into her chest—laughing even if she fell and got her face in the water. She loved using her sifter to collect tiny clamlike creatures at the shoreline. She loved watching the seagulls. She loved just walking barefoot down the beach.

The beach was covered in small, round jellyfish, and Andrew and I spent most of our time making sure Lucia didn’t step on any. But later, while I was in the bathroom, a man with his son was picking them up and told Andrew they wouldn’t sting. So when I came back out to the beach, my tiny baby was toddling over excitedly, her whole face lit up in a huge smile, holding out a jellyfish for my inspection. Picking up jellyfish could easily have occupied another hour at least.

It was a very fun day. We even went out again later that afternoon, to join some people from my playgroup for a picnic in Prospect Park. And that morning, before we left the apartment, Lucia came up to me and said, “Hat!” She wanted to wear a hat, after spending the entire summer so far refusing to even let one touch her head. Oh, fickle child.

“Beach!” is now one of Lucia’s new favorite words.