So after Legolanding on Monday, we were lazy bums on Tuesday. The boys played with their new big lego sets they got at the Legoland shop (yeah for grandpa’s birthday money!) while B bounced around the hotel 
room. Once we could pull them away from their toys, we joined everyone at the beach. It was very cold for swimming, but the kids had a blast playing in the sand
and running around. D got himself out onto a floating dock and then was too cold to swim back. He stuck it out quite a while, hanging out and trying to figure a way back. Unfortunately he gave up just before a rescue could have been at hand. One of the families rented a paddle bike and everyone took turns taking the kids out. That should certainly count as exercise for the day. I don’t think it was parked one minute of it’s two hours.
The kids joined some other families - also from Arizona it turned out - in building a huge complex of bridges and tunnels. Fabulous engineering. They would reinforce walls and then pour water from buckets to see if it would follow their paths, rapidly reinforcing walls and forming new tunnels. They spent over an hour playing in the sand complex. They also build individual sand castles, drew pictures in the sand (C drew a rectangle and said it was a TV. Then he drew the planets and said it was a science show to watch.)
When they’d finally had more than enough beach time, we headed back to the campsite (we were the only ones hoteling it, everyone else had an RV). The kids road tricycles and 
scooters around, goofed off and played until after dark. Then it was s’mores time. Everyone toasted marshmallows and occasionally stuck some on a graham cracker with some chocolate. A very, very good time was had by all. With sticky fingers we headed back to the hotel, 3 out of 5 of us falling asleep on the way.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Anne Mayo // Oct 13, 2007 at 10:06 pm
What a fun day. Their creation looks like the set of a sci-fi movie based on another planet.Living in AZ we have far too little exposure to damp sand and the imaginative construction it affords. A science program on C’s sand tv-how cool is that? They definitely look as if the water is freezing. Can’t wait to hear about all of the things that they saw and learned on this trip.
2 Anne Mayo // Oct 16, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I was looking at these photos again and the shot of D out on the floating dock reminded me of something I hadn’t thought of in years. When I was 8 or 9 Mom and Dad decided that my sister and I should have swimming lessons. A decision which caused a great deal of criticism and clucking over their foolishness among our aunts and uncles. After all, why would anyone need lessons when the time honored method was just to throw a child in the water and let them learn the good old fashioned way- that is by not drowning. In fact, my favorite uncle was always very proud that he had been the one to teach my dad to swim by throwing him in Plum Brook. He did, however, usually mention that when he went down for the third time he thought he was going to have to jump in after him; but Dad came back up. Amazingly, to me at least, Dad loved the water and could “dog-paddle” with great speed.Back to the swimming lessons. They were given at the Ogdensburg Beach, a distance of 11 miles from our farm. Another bunch of foolishness to actually do something with children that required transporting them that far.Even in the warmest summer the St. Lawrence River is freezing! I believe the lessons lasted a few weeks and then came the final test. In order to pass the class and get a swimmer’s card you had to swim out to a floating dock which then and now in memory seemed half way to Canada. The day of the swimming test was gray and cold with high winds causing very choppy water. This chubby, not very fit kid was definitley not too good a swimmer and was not looking forward to the test under the best of circumstances and was absolutely terrified of the wind and waves. I hung back and let others go ahead hoping that the weather would improve or best of all that I would be forgotten. No such luck. As the morning wore on, it grew colder and the winds got worse. As I recall the mothers suggested that it might be better to do it another day, but the life guards thought we were tough enough. At last it could be avoided no longer and it was my turn. Lest they sound too callous a lifeguard was in a boat and rowed out and back beside each swimmer so we were not really in any great danger. I only remember struggling and the waves breaking over my head. A couple of times the lifeguard had to kind of pull me back up with an oar but I did make it to the dock. But when it came to swimming back I could not be persuaded and I think he probably thought that I couldn’t make it anyway so he brought me back in the boat. So much for my swimming career. I am still a poor swimmer and D and C have said that they will teach me so I can go in the ocean and not be afraid. Maybe someday I’ll take them up on the offer.
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