Some of our best days last summer were spent at Nahant Beach. Long, sunny, happy days with friends.
This year, the weather has been a little unpredictable so far, and we haven’t made it to the beach as often as I’d hoped. In fact, my younger two hadn’t been at all until last week when we took advantage of a sunny morning (before the rain returned in the afternoon) and arrived early to make the most of it.
It definitely wasn’t the sunniest morning, but it was warm and for the first hour or so we felt like we had the beach to ourselves.
My kids immediately made friends with a little girl and spent the rest of the morning building sandcastles, digging holes, making sand cakes and playing in the water.
I was incredibly happy to see my daughter play in the ocean. Last year she refused to go in to the sea at all. But, a year can make all the difference, and this time it was tough to get her out!
Playing in the sand keeps them occupied and gives me a chance to sit and actually enjoy the moment. As I sat, drinking tea, watching the water and listening to them chatter with each other and their new friend, I was struck by how lucky we are to get to spend the summer together.
I know that summers with kids can be long and hard work, but it’s absolutely worth it.
Eudora Welty
Having fun with my children over summer vacation is my absolute priority. The blog comes very much second (or fifth, or fiftieth) on my list. BUT, last summer I missed keeping a photo journal of our activities. It’s such a wonderful thing to look back on, and it is the reason I started writing this blog in the first place. These ‘Snapshots’ posts are a way for me to record the moments, but not feel obliged to write War and Peace. Capture the days as they happen. No SEO, no pinnable images, no stress. Just keeping those moments from running away.
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It looks a bit like a British beach at first glance with the overcast weather but looks like the kids had a tonne of fun anyway. Our toddler is forever trying to run straight into the sea at the moment, we have to hang onto him really tight!
They had a blast, and even though it was overcast it was still warm :) I’m so glad that I can be a bit more relaxed with them all around water now, although I spend a lot of time counting heads. I think it will always make me nervous, even when they’re all in their twenties!!
I hope to be spending some sunny days like this with my kids over the holidays. so far we have started with rain and storms but fingers crossed that changes. I miss the simple fun of sandcastles and splashing at the water’s edge, now I worry as I see them disappearing over the waves with their surf boards far deeper than I date go! Even so it’s lovey to be at the beach together. I hope you have many more chances to visit this summer too.
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I’m hoping the weather improves here too! We’ve had so much rain… At least it’s still warm, but makes beach days more difficult! When my eldest is with us I spend a lot of time counting heads as he and his brother (and any friends) head out on their body boards! One of the things I love about this beach is it’s really shallow and long, so you have a really good view!
Wow that beach looks huge! Looks like they had great fun and the sand was perfect for digging in #CountryKids
It’s a fab beach, huge when the tide it out :)
Is this nearby? How wonderful! There’s always fun t be had at the beach, whatever the weather. Hope you guys are having a fun summer #countrykids
It’s probably our closest beach, about a 20/25 min drive from home. We love it there :)
I love that you keep these snapshots posts. My priority is my kids also over the summer , sometimes I miss things and wait a year or more to blog them. I still have stuff from last summer in the uk that I haven’t shared! #coubtrykids
Yes, blogging definitely takes a back seat during the summer, but I want to be able to look back on it so this seems like a good balance :)
I love the beach and I love being near the sea. I hope to one day move nearer the coast. Children have so much fun at the beach. Lovely post. #countrykids
I love that we’re only a 20 minute drive away, makes visiting the beach so easy!
I feel the same about blogging in the summer time. Last year I took zillions of photos of our summer in France, but never got round to writing the posts about our adventures. So I’ll try to blog about our summer this time, but in a much more relaxed way. Summer does that to you anyway.
Lovely shots, looks like you have a mermaid on your hands, just like mine!
#CountryKids
Absolutely, summer should be slow! My little girl loves the water, and she’s getting more and more confident!
What a shame you are having unpredictable weather too. It doesn’t seem to have deterred your little ones thought, loads of fun going on for them. Mich x #CountryKids
Kids really don’t care about the weather, do they?! Would love the sun to shine a little more personally :)
Your photos are so lovely and do capture the joy from being on the beach. I don’t think the weather matters too much to children if they can just have fun splashing around and digging I the sand.
#countrykids
No, the weather really doesn’t matter at all, and it was warm even if not sunny :)
I can’t tell you how much I love the beach. We don’t live close to one really, but I love to see smiles and I love to hear the waves crash. Such beautiful photos and beautiful memories #countrykidsfun
I can’t tell you how much I love the beach. We don’t live close to one really, but I love to see smiles and I love to hear the waves crash. Such beautiful photos and beautiful memories #countrykidsfun
I love the beach too, it is one of my favourite places, at any time of year :)
I like this idea of a snapshot post. I find when it comes to writing a post I often delay it as it feels like such a big commitment. Not the writing but all additional faff… lovely pictures as usual here :) they looked like they had great fun! #countrykids
Exactly, you can get too caught up in the other stuff and end up not writing anything at all!
Such gorgeous snapshots from your time at the beach and so lovely to see your wee girl having so much fun in the sea and being so happy to go in it. Looks like you all had a wonderful time. So lovely to just to record the moments and keep that photo journal without thinking about pinnable images and SEO too – it’s all to easy to get caught up in them when blogging, isn’t it? :-) #countrykids
Thank you Louise, she had a brilliant time :) And yes, far too easy to get too caught up and not record anything!
I can’t wait to take my little one to beach, and I love the idea of just a photo essay for the sake of memory capturing.
As we live nearby the beach, during holidays our most common place to visit is the beach. My kids love to pass their time there. My elder son is becoming an expert of surfing day day day. And the younger is great in making sand castles.