Sunday, July 27, 2014

Great Day Connecting with Family and Friends

This morning Katie and I met Ruby, Roxanne and Larry Gauchman at the Bagel Cafe. We hadn't seen them in maybe three years and it was So nice to see them and talk to them! They were on their way back from Bar Harbor, so passing right through Camden. Both Ruby and Roxanne are doing what they love to do, one involved with dance and the other fashion design. One taking pre-college courses and the other a junior in college and starting an internship on Monday. Both were unschooled and still living spectacular lives. Katie left to go to work and the rest of us chatted more, especially about how some instructor's treat students and veganism. I loved talking about making and eating vegan foods as Ruby eats vegan like Li.

When I went home, Makana had made me a turkey sandwich!  I "gobbled" that down (I only had tea at the Cafe as sometimes I feel an allergic response to their bagels sometimes) and we finished packing to go to the beach.  I made Jim and Makana bagels with horseradish bacon cream cheese like they asked.

Li couldn't find any food he wanted to bring, so I offered for us to stop at Hannaford.  We needed gas too, so Jim dropped us off and got gas while we picked up food. Kanoa asked me to get some things too - like Kit Kats or Twix and a free cookie and chicken nuggets!  I told him I couldn't get the chicken nuggets, but I'd pick up some things for him there that he'd like.  I bought Kanoa a long baguette, Kit Kats and a free cookie.  Li chose a 2 coconut blueberry and 1 raspberry yogurts, organic lollipops and a bag of sea salted potato chips (he had already packed his favorite ketchup as he knew he wanted chips and Loves to eat them with ketchup).  I chose a pint of Haagan Daz and a cocount raspberry yogurt (which was still cheaper than the cost of one ice cream out....I don't eat ice cream out because generally there is a chance of peanuts or other things I'm allergic to getting on the ice cream spoon and it is not worth it to me to take a chance - and I wanted something filling and heck, I don't normally eat this...so I felt like I would that day - and I so did enJoy it!).

Oh!  When I was checking out at Hannaford, I overheard the checkout lady say to the current customer that her son said that she was going to be teaching people smarter than her.  The customer said something and then the checkout lady said something to the effect that "you can't really teach people, you can only guide them."  I smiled to myself (yes!  Another person who gets that!) and commented to her about learning vs teaching when I was checking out!  She and the former customer had gotten a kick out of the way the items were arranged by who wanted them.

Some of us snacked a bit while we drove to the beach.  Michelle and Charles were walking up to the bathrooms as we got there!  Charles showed us where they were sitting as the beach was crowded.

We had such a nice time!!  Chatting, kids all playing in the water (which I heard was quite cold!) - this is the first summer ever that Kanoa is down by the water without us right next to him - though one or both of us always keep a good eye on him as he can't swim yet and he does go right up to his neck.  It's nice to be able to sit on the beach (as long as we aren't too far away) and feel comfortable with him playing in the water.  He is almost always with the other kids.

Kanoa asked me to come play with him in the water.  I did!  And it was So fun!!!  It wasn't so cold after all (only when you got out until you dried off).  We rode waves on the boogie board (one of the first times he's ever done this and it was so fun - waves small and perfect for him), and we jumped over them and splashed (he likes to play splash games...not my thing, but I do it because he likes it so much).  Some of the others rode waves in with us too for a while.  We'd say we were waiting for Mr. Biggie to come....and then when what we felt was a big enough wave, we'd try to ride it in.  :)

We then found a bunch of hermit crabs and snails in periwinkle shells and dug out a little pool for them on the beach where the tide would find them when it came back in.  Li thinks the creatures should be left in the sea, so he doesn't do this with us, but doesn't get upset over it either.  Charles said he found "hermit crab city" and would pass the hermit crab shells to Makana who'd put them in her goggles that lay on the boogie board.  They were a good team!  Then I'd take the crabs from her and give them to Kanoa or walk them up to the pool myself.  We found some Big ones!  Cool!!

Michelle left to go pick up Jewel, start dinner and go to work. Charles was able to stay and keep playing. We'd drop him off on our way home later.

Jim and the older kids played baseball, making bases with Charle's horseshoes.  What fun they had running all over the place!

While they were playing baseball, Kanoa and I explored the side of the beach with rocks and tide pools and tried to make a dam to stop the water that was running from the woods to the ocean. We climbed rocks noticing that sandy feet made a layer of protection on our soles, which helped them to feel better when we walked on the rocks.  Kanoa said that aloud, but I had noticed it too - the sand did help, until it wore off. But then you could just step back in the sand again.

Kanoa also liked finding little baby crabs and climbing on higher rocks to see how far he could throw.  He threw one rock and it broke when it hit the rocks on the ground.  He also found a medium sized rock that he could break with his hands.  I tried breaking it too as it was fun to be able to break it with our hands. It seemed like it was almost waterlogged (though no water came out of it and it wasn't wet) and kind of soft as it broke.  Yet the rock was hard as you held it.  Wonder what kind of rock that was?  Was it rock for sure? Or something that resembled a rock and felt as hard as one?

Was trying to search for what kind of rock this could be got off of topic and bit and found this neat site:
http://tidepooltim.blogspot.com/   explored his blog a little (wish he wrote more!)
Pictures of hermit crabs up close: http://tidepooltim.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

Running around playing baseball made everyone so sweaty and tired that back into the water the kids went!  Jim said he was just about to tell them he needed to rest when they told him they couldn't play anymore as they were too tired!  Charles, who had changed into shorts, went right in the ocean wearing them as the changing rooms were closed by this time.  It was nearing 7pm!  Jim got to chill in his chair for a bit and that is where he was when Kanoa and I got back from the rocky section of the beach.  Two hours had zipped by!  I couldn't believe it!

You could notice a change in the sky....getting dimmer.  The kids had their boogie boards and were still having a blast in the water.

Kanoa, after being told to STOP throwing sand again (sigh...), became interested in the large hole the Charles had dug which was right in front of our spot.  I brought him a sand pail and some sand molds that someone had left on the beach and after I made a few with him, he began to hide one of the molds and ask either Jim or I to pick which of two places under the sand it was.  He tricked us so many times ;).  (He so loves to trick people.)

The kids came out of the water and began playing in the hole too.  Kanoa wasn't too keen on this, now thinking the hole was "his."  He was there for a long while all by himself before they came.  I explained that Charles had dug it originally and we could find or make another big hole for him if he wanted.  He walked to a semi-dug out spot nearby for a bit, seeming to want to have a little space.  I'm not sure if I said the right thing or not, but that is what I said and how I felt in the moment.  Maybe the other kids would have given him a few more minutes alone if I had thought to ask, or even let him keep playing there alone.  But I didn't think of that.  I could have even dug them a new hole or dug a new one with them.  But I felt like it was Charles' hole and in the moment I went with that.  If Kanoa had dug the hole originally, he'd want to come to play in it later too and feel like it was still his, even if he played in the water for much of the day.  So that is why I felt it was Charles' hole and he could certainly play in it and that if Kanoa didn't like that, I'd help Kanoa find another place to play.  (wow...long thought process)

Charles got buried up to his shoulders and they all kept having fun.  The beach had only a handful of people on it by this time.

At one point, Kanoa was running up toward the showers and I told Jim maybe this would be a good time to head out!  I grabbed my chair and a towel and ran to catch up with Kanoa.  We rinsed off, dropped off Charles, and headed home.  What a great beach day!