Spontaneity

Last night was not a very restful night. Reagan and Georgie went to sleep very early because they had both refused to take naps during the day. They were asleep by 7:30, so all parents know what that means: an ultra early morning. It was so early that I couldn't imagine getting out of bed, so instead, I gave them each a flashlight, put them on the floor of my room, closed the door and told them to play quietly. I didn't fall asleep, but my eyes stayed closed. It felt so good. About an hour into this, Kate got lonesome, so she joined the group in Mommy's bedroom. Luckily I had another flashlight.

I finally dragged my body out of bed at 7:30, and stumbled into the kitchen because I forgot that I had put a fan on the floor the night before. I turned on my espresso machine, and tried to make up my mind about breakfast. That was when Tanner got home. He said that he and Jonny hadn't wanted to wake us up, so instead of coming home at 6:00, they had just gone to Starbucks and eaten breakfast there. I thanked him. Then I told him that we were up at 6:00. He kissed me on the cheek and said how sorry he was, and then he took a deep breath and asked me if I wanted to go to the beach today.

Why not? I didn't have anything ready, but I knew it would be fun to go. So, the girls ran around finding bathing suits, towels and beach toys while I packed the cooler with bottle of water, chips, fruit snacks and peanut butter. Tanner got dressed and loaded the car. We were out of the house in 45 minutes. I never did drink my cup of coffee. No worries, I know every Starbucks on the way to Galveston.

I love the drive there. We go by three lakes and over at least 6 low, swung bridges. Sailboats, speed boats, seadoos and fishermen seem to line up and salute us as we pass by, and then we hit Houston. And today, Houston actually looked pretty. The sun was at the perfect angle, glinting on the tall, glass structures, splattering extra sunbows across the sky. We slugged our way past NASA. Traffic always snarls up at that point, and then we were home free and managed to do 70 the rest of the way to Galveston. We stopped at the Target in Galveston for juices and trail mix. And then we went to Stewart Beach.

Stewart Beach Park commandeers the best sandy beaches of Galveston. There must be at least 100 yards of beach before it reaches the sea, and at least a mile of sand stretching the length of Galveston Island. Here, the waves break gently and undertows are nonexistent. Kids can safely splash around in the shallows and babies crawl on the fringe of the ocean while eating sand. Well, at least that's what Georgie did. I caught her with handfuls of sand stuffed in her mouth three times. It made me wonder how many times I didn't catch her. She had the greatest time. She crawled straight into the water and was surprised when it splashed into her eyes. She got a little mad at it because bathtubs just aren't suppose to do that sort of thing. She got unbelievably dirty, wet and tired. I knew it was time to go when she stopped crawling and just laid down on the sand, too tired to move. Kate is learning how to boogie board, and Reagan is learning how to use a life jacket.

Reagan spent hours building a mountain of sand underneath our umbrella. It never got very tall because she kept patting it down, but she worked and worked and worked on it. She drank the most gatorade and the most water and the most milk and the most juice. She was so excited when she saw the ocean that when I finally told her that it was safe to go in, she ran as fast as her little, chunky legs could carry her, and plunged headlong into the waves. She came up spluttering and gagging. It was SALTY!

Kate is my mature child. She gingerly tested the water, and since it met her approval, she walked into the waves until the swirled up around her calves. She paused like a supermodel and then proceeded to go waste deep, and then a big wave came and dunked her. Perfect. Her christening over, she was indefatigable. And when it was finally time to go, she had a hard time saying goodbye and not crying. But she maintained her composure all the way through showering and dressing and only wept a little bit when we loaded her into the car.

The girls slept most of the way home, and so did Tanner. He only took over the last part of the driving because the sun went down, and I don't like driving country roads at night. So, I am brown. Yes, brown with red-caped shoulders. I did put sunscreen on. I put it on 4 times. You see, I was so busy putting sunscreen on everyone else, that I forgot to put it on myself.