Monday Moments: Summer Kick-off

What better way to kick off summer than at the ocean? Some of my kids could have thought of better ways, it turns out.

I haven’t been to Parksville since I was a kid, and it hasn’t changed much, except now I’m the one who has to cook the meals, shake out the sand, and tell the kids not to climb overboard on the ferry. Adulting, amiright?

We walked through old growth forest, visited Coombs to see the goats on the roof and eat ice cream, went to a massive community park with a zipline the kids spent ages on, mini-golfed, visited a small cheese factory that had  friendly goats and sheep, and did some tidal pool exploring and wave jumping. All in all a good 3 days to celebrate the end of school!

Gavin was happiest with a snack and his brother’s socks pulled up as high as possible to avoid any possibility of feeling sand, or the crabs that were wandering around. Well, he was actually happiest at the huge park nearby, but this was the happiest he got at the beach.

Jack was also happiest on dry land, after we discovered that the salt water stung the eczema on his legs like crazy. It only took two separate attempts at wading, followed by frantic screaming, for him to learn to stay out of the water. Thankfully he loved kite flying, digging, and just running around in the sand enough to forget about the water.

Theo also refused to get his feet wet, but was happy to dig holes and direct others to get buckets of water to fill them for him.

On a trip into town we let the kids pick out a little toy, and two chose “melodias” – basically a recorder crossed with an accordion. People gave us a wide berth at the beach.

Family vacations, right? All about letting go of expectations for what “holiday” looks like and just enjoying it for what it is. Amazing scenery, fresh air, and plenty of time together with my favourite people.

And the big two loved it all, and they’re the ones who are going to remember it anyways ;)