Santa Cruzin

On Sunday, Warren, the kids, Oba, Oji, and I piled in the Lincoln Towncar (stocked to the gills with snacks, drinks, pillows, blankets, towels, and maps) and drove to the beach nestled in Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz.

I had been fantasizing about taking the boys to the beach and was thrilled that the weather was nice enough to go. "The water is going to be cold," Warren warned, but I packed the kids' swim shorts just in case. (I packed and unpacked them twice before leaving Memphis, unsure as to weather I was being optimistic or naive.)

At first Satchel was huddled on the beach towel hugging himself while whining, "It's coooooooold."

Jiro immediately ran for the waves.

There were a bazillion people along the beach--playing volleyball, building sandcastles, picnicking--and most of them were in swimsuits. Well, the kids were in swimsuits. Most of the adults looked on in t-shirts and rolled up pants.

Over the next couple of hours the boys stripped down and ran along the beach in their swimsuits like it was the fourth of July. They played with the seaweed, chased the waves, climbed the rocks, picked up sticks and unusual debris, and generally had a blast. I was bursting with happiness.


We took a break to eat some sandwiches and fruit and Satchel announced, "I'm going to find a little girl who will share her buckets with me so I can build a sand castle."

"Okay," I said as I watched Satchel scan the beach.

"Come with me, Mommy," he said.

"Okay," I said reluctantly.

We held hands and walked along the beach looking for a little girl willing to share. We passed girl after girl and finally Satchel said, "You ask, Mommy."

I was frozen. "You ask," I said. "I don't want to."

Satchel looked up at me beautifically and said, "Don't be shy, Mommy."

I blushed and laughed at his grasp of my emotions. "I can't help it," I said.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm shy too."

My heart exploded as I looked along the beach one more time. "This way," I said.

We walked over to a woman who was sunning herself next to a large pile of unused buckets and scoopers. Her kids were busy playing near the water and she gladly loaned us all the equipment we needed.

"Thank you!" Satchel squealed to the both of us as he ran towards the wave soaked sand and started scooping.