One of the things the Boy is most excited about our coming summer in Poland is going to the market on Wednesday.
The Girl, too.
the girl
Late Morning at Furman
Evening Soccer
Dessert
Awards Day
Four awards, including all A's.
Huntington Beach 2017
We put it off several times: once, because someone was sick; a second time, because the timing was no longer convenient. Did we put it off a third time? I can't remember. But this weekend has been a long time in the making. We were originally going to spend last Labor Day weekend at Huntington Beach, but we ended up spending Memorial Day -- that seems appropriate, timing-wise, as they two three-day weekends bookend the school year.
We first went about six years ago.
We fell in love immediately. We went back again at some point, but none of us can remember when exactly. It was pre-E, for sure, but that's about all we can remember. Perhaps the link above is to our second visit? it all gets smeared in the memory. I reread the entry and find this:
Her first beach experience, some two years ago, was moderately traumatic for her. The sound of the waves terrified her, and the waves were forever chasing her form the water’s edge when she finally got the nerve to approach.
This year was different.
That first time at the ocean was at Edisto, so this must be have been our first time at Huntington. Still, it's only a year before the Boy's birth: when did we go again, pre-E? Again, smeared it the memory.
So I want to set about to to write down all the details of this experience I can remember, knowing that if I don't, I won't remember it. But I set out doing so with the understanding that I will only pick and choose, letting the pictures do the rest.
The first day we arrived and, after setting up camp, headed out to the beach. The Girl took her boogie board out to test the waves; the Boy, after a few minutes, turned to the gigantic sand box that lay all around him. Then they switched. That pretty much sums up the entire weekend: playing in the sand, playing in the waves. After all, what else can you do at the beach?
But there were the subtle changes. L, no longer afraid of the water, gradually found the courage to go out with me a little further than before, looking for more boggie-board-able waves. The Boy was at first reticent to go far beyond the last little crests and bubbles of waves that had been churning inland for some tens of feet. He finally found the courage, with a little help from K and me, to go out further, and to require less of a reassuring hand while doing so.
Day two started at Brookgreen Gardens. "We've been here three times now -- we have to go," declared K. It is famous for its sculptures, a fact interested me and bored L -- until she started seeing statues from Greek mythology, her current obsession thanks to the Percy Jackson series.
The final day -- another morning on the beach.
A perfect weekend, over all.
Batting Practice
Fifth Birthday Party
The Boy woke up at six this morning, ready to go. He'd been worried since Wednesday when he came home with a fever: "Will I be okay by my party?" he asked. Certainly. So this morning, he had his materials packed -- cars and guns and other toys stuffed into the book bag Nana and Papa gave him for his birthday earlier in the week -- and by the door by half-past-seven.
Later in the morning, he was packing his goodie bags for his guests, filling them with the Polish sweets he and K had chosen at the local Russian store (of course it's called "Euro Market" or something similar, but like most Euro Markets, it seems, it's a Russian owner). I sat down and glanced at the "Time Machine" links just at the bottom of the page as is my Saturday morning custom, and there was a post about holding the Boy when he was just a few weeks old.
Long gone are the days when you can hold him in the crook of your arm. Now it's difficult to pick him up. When he falls asleep in Mass, it's always in K's arms, and I almost always end up holding him during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which means figuring out a way to kneel and hold a sack of concrete.
By the time it was actually time to head to the party, the Boy was more than ready, all nearly-fifty pounds of him.
The party itself was bliss for him. Many of his friends from pre-school came, as well as neighbors and kids from the Polish community. K brought some games for everyone to play, including a sack race, but in the end, what was most successful was what was simplest: E's toys.
The Girl, though was sick, which accounts for her absence as well as Nana's and Papa's.
Hanging Out with Scouts
Two Concerts
The Girl sang in her school's talent show this morning. She sang "Dziś idę walczyć, Mamo!" which is a song about the Warsaw Uprising. She's been practicing it for weeks. I've found myself humming it as I walk down the corridor at school. E sings snippets of it every now and then. K sings it as she's working around the house. It's infected our whole family, but what a wonderful infection.
After dinner, we got another concert, a performance of a music that's thousands and thousands of years old, a music that both calms and excites.
The owls have nested in our neighbors' backyard, and they came down for a visit today. The would sing and hoot, caterwaul and even almost purr. It was hypnotic.
