Beach Girls

Sand. Sea. Girl.

Lillian is a beach girl. 

Lillian, Her Dad and a Frog

Lazy Beach Days

On Sunday, we packed the CRV with smartphones, tablets, laptops, some clothes, some beach toys, stuck Lillian in her car seat, crammed her dad and grandma Nancy on either side of her in the back seat, put Ashley in the front seat and drove down to Galveston for a week of not-doing-very-much-at-all. On the way, we stopped at Ruchi’s for a delicious (and cheap) Mexican breakfast. Lillian lasted about five minutes in the car after breakfast and then fell asleep (how did parents get children to sleep before the invention of the motor car?).

Shortly after noon, we arrived at the Maravilla Resort on the west end of the sea wall, where Josh’s Uncle David and Aunt Donna have a 2 bedroom condo called Heron’s Rest. We checked in and sprawled out and started relaxing. Lili thinks it’s a very cool place to be, and particularly likes the balcony, though she can’t quite understand why her more acrophobic parents and grandparents won’t let her climb on the railing.

Sunday weather was brisk, so instead of going in the Gulf, Lillian and her grandpa headed off on an exploration of Galveston public playgrounds. She decided the playground at nearby Crockett Park was the place to be, and climbed and jumped and had a blast. Lots of other kids came and went, and Lili studied their playground moves; particularly interesting to her were two boys who fashioned found sticks and palm fronds into swords and pistols and assorted other weaponry and who proceeded to engage in epic battles across the playground.

Chasing shoes

After a while, a five-year old girl rode up on her bicycle and climbed up next to Lillian. Lillian took one look at the girl’s shoes and immediately forgot about the deadly conflict that raged around her. The girl wore a pair of rainbow-colored, iridescent Skechers, covered in stars and with lights that flashed whenever she moved. Lili could not take her eyes off of those shoes. As the girl stood there, Lillian bent down and undid the Velcro straps holding the shoes on, and tried to remove them. The girl looked down and watched but wisely kept her feet firmly planted on the ground.

“She likes your shoes,” I said.

“I know,” she replied, “Everyone does.”

We managed to get back to the condo without being arrested for attempted shoe theft, and scarfed up homemade tacos and burritos, watched the sun go down and got the rambunctious little one to bed without too much fuss.

Monday’s weather was still a bit brisk for us, and everyone was feeling lazy, so we didn’t do a whole lot. Ashley and her mom did a little shopping and Lillian learned the correct buttons to push to get the elevator going (though no one will let her push the cool button with the bell that has “alarm” written on it). Josh alternated reading John Le Carre and Meister Eckhart with photographing fountain pens, and grandpa watched the Texans beat the Jets on Monday Night Football.

Tuesday was one of those perfect weather days you get occasionally in the spring and autumn in Texas: warm without being hot and perfect for the beach which, since it’s autumn and a school day, was uncrowded. Grandma and grandpa took Lillian down to the beach (only a few minutes from where we are staying). Ashley, who can’t be out in the sun due to the medicines she is taking, stayed in the condo with Josh — fortunately, she can get out on the balcony in the afternoon, when it’s shaded, and in the evening.

Lili thinks the beach is the place to be: water, waves and wet sand to dig in; could a girl ask for more? The water was cool, but she did not seem to mind, and ran, splashed and covered herself with sand. (A side benefit of all that activity is that it wears girls out). She had so much fun in the morning that she got to go again in the afternoon and went to sleep without too much fuss a while later.

October at the Beach: A Video

Family Portrait

Lillian, Josh and Ashley

Playing in the Sand

Dad, Mom, me & Katelyn

More from the Beach

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Grandma Peggy took these pictures. Lillian is ready to go back to the beach.

Lillian in the Gulf of Mexico

At the edge of the Gulf

Lillian and Her Dad on the Beach

Dad and Me...