“Before the land rose out of the sea, and became dry land, chaos reigned; and between high and low water-mark, where she is partially disrobed and rising, a sort of chaos reigns still”*

by chuckofish

Daughter #2 here with a guest post while my sister is traveling. We might make this a semi-regular thing: an occasional Katiebelle check-in, hopefully with some deep thoughts thrown in (or not). Today, I will mostly be reporting tales from our first beach vacation as a family of 3.

Katie was totally unafraid of the chaos of the sea. I am sorry that I don’t know how to upload video of her confidence at the water’s edge, so photos will have to suffice. She was ready to march right into the waves, and we spent a lot of time hunched in the sand, holding her back. The stiff knees were totally worth it for pictures like this:

Is anyone else getting Music Man vibes?

I, on the other hand, felt increasingly aware of the ocean’s creepiness. For the first time, we stayed in a “beachfront” house with a full wall of windows looking out on the ocean. I couldn’t help think of Moby-Dick every day…

Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began.

Chapter 58, “Brit“
God keep thee!

OK, it was also really pretty.

In addition to entertaining ourselves with buckets and umbrellas…

…we also managed to dress up and go out to dinner a couple of times. Katie is increasingly more toddler than baby, so sitting at the dinner table is becoming more of a challenge, even with a wine list and tableware to inspect.

We did a lot of picking up this and that off of the floor wherever we went, though as you can imagine, no one seemed to mind. Katie stole the hearts of many a server.

Now we are back home, back at work and daycare, getting back into our routine. The semester starts in a month, which is nuts. We do seem to live for the weekend, but when the weekend means walking practice and park visits, how could we not?

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

*from Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau