Typical Wednesday.  Hazel still takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap, so our days are pretty choppy.  Most days we try to squeeze in a run after breakfast before morning nap, and then we have 2.5-ish hours to eat lunch and run errands and maybe have some fun before afternoon nap (for Hazel) and rest time (for Max).  After afternoon naps, we head to the playground and hang with friends until Daddy gets home from work.  At least twice a week, we try to spend our time between naps at the beach.  I pack a lunch, some towels, and our tent and we head to the sea.  I’m so grateful for this “typical.”

Some days these beach days are super fun and relaxing, some days stressful keeping the sand out of Hazel’s mouth and helping Max get the sand off him when it’s time to go.  Packing up the tent and wrangling Max while wearing a sandy baby is actually never fun, but it’s almost always worth it.  Most days, I try to appreciate the total sensory joy that is the seaside.  The rich colors of a deep blue sky against a cerulean ocean.  The sweet breeze (for now!), the warm sun, the soft sand.  The smell of salty water and sunscreen.  The sound of the waves gently hitting the sand, Max’s “mommy, come look!”, the birds’ chatter.  The salty tang you can taste, the sweet grapes and strawberries we always pack.  Cleaning sand out of my tub multiple times a week seems a fair price to pay.