"We'll meet you at the beach with a picnic"

These were my words to Sean this morning as he left with Chloe for their morning adventure, and I stayed home to put Emily down for her morning nap. We'll meet up for a picnic lunch on the beach (how French!). We've become real beach bums lately, and it's not hard to understand why!

The weather has been amazing here lately. It's been 17 degrees and sunny (but feels much warmer, particularly on the beach). Chloe has even been enjoying putting her feet in the water, filling up her little watering can and splashing in the waves. Yesterday, she even wore her bathing suit. Emily loves watching the waves and the other kids playing on the beach. She even laughs at the pigeons who waddle by! Sean and I, while we need to watch the kids, don't have to provide the constant entertainment that we do in other situations. Everyone is happy, and we can truly relax as a family. Add a picnic, and everyone is even happier! We've realized that parenting is much easier on a beach. A good friend of mine has told me in the past that "there are no vacations when you're a parent, just trips". I think though, that the beach comes the closest to a real vacation as you can possibly get with young children.

I think when I look back on our trip, some of my favourite memories will be of just hanging out on the beach as a family. While we've had a fantastic time visiting new towns and tourist attractions, the most relaxing, fun family time we've had has been the beach time. And let's face it, 3 months of spending every day on the beach would get boring very quickly!

Yesterday at the beach we were preparing Chloe for the fact that we would be leaving this paradise at some point. She said "why do we have to say goodbye to the ocean?" and "why is the ocean not in Aylmer?". I would have to agree that it will be the hardest part for me to say goodbye to as well.

Okay, better get that lunch packed :)