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beach knitting and babies.

This week we went to the beach. Greg has a few glorious days off before he takes his Step 3 exam next week. We hung out on Neptune for a day. Jimmy decided to practice walking all-day-long... meaning Greg spent most of the day hunched over a wobbly Jimmy who refused to let go of his hands.

Where was I?
Laying out, taking pictures of them.
Where was Ray?
In the stroller, munching on a cookie and shielding himself from the chilly breeze.

Greg and I played some overdue frisbee. Wide open beach + steady wind = spectacular frisbee.

The beach was empty apart from a few walkers and a fisherman and his wife. The waves spit out dozens of jellyfish throughout the day.  I peeled Ray from his seat and dragged him to check out the jellies. The kids and I touched a bunch of their clear, stiff, slimy tips. I showed them where the tentacles were (between you and me, I *think* they were the harmless kind). I felt sorry for them laying helpless in the sand. I wanted to pick them up and chuck them out into the ocean... played it safe instead.

Ray out of the stroller is a different child than Ray in the stroller. He ran everywhere. There was a small tide pool close by and in spite of the cold wind, his fleece jacket, and basketball pants, he waded right in and stayed there throwing gloopy drip sand on the bank and scouting the pool for treasure.

Greg took Jimmy for a stroller beach run while Ray glued himself to the tide pool and I took out my knitting. I'm knitting a chunky gray "Old Shale" pattern blanket. The pattern gathers and loosens in a way that comes out to resemble clam shells. Fitting pattern for the beach, huh?

Later he wrapped Ray up and took both of them for another run which freed me up for Kindle reading.  I made a strict policy for myself when we moved to Florida: no cellphone/electrickery when the kids are around water. No exceptions. I've been working through Collected works of St. Teresa of Avila. I am loving it and highly recommend it.

Time to bow out. Jimmy is chewing apart my computer chair.

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