Not Thrilled by the Beach

Even though we got to the coast on Wednesday, we didn't make it down to the beach until Friday evening just before dinner and after a long day of shopping at the outlet stores. Well, Grant had been down to the beach while Eleanor napped, but Eleanor and I hadn't had a chance to get our feet in the sand. This was the first time Eleanor had been on the beach in a little over a year, so it was kind of like her first real experience with the beach. (Before, she had just bobbed along in the Baby Bjorn strapped to either Grant or me while choking on the wind in her face.)

As soon as we got to the sand, Grant rolled up her pants and set her down to check it out, and we soon realized what a princess we have on our hands. In her defense, it had been a long day, she was probably hungry, and it was cold and windy. She was not happy about being put down with bare feet on somewhat cold sand with the wind blowing in her face and her two parents, grinning, watching her expectantly as if she was supposed to do a dance or something.

I realize these pictures are all very similar, but they seem to tell the story. . .

Checking out the gritty stuff between her toes. She had played in stuff like this in Grandma's sandbox, but it had never been able to get between her toes before.

Trying to decide how to react.

Dad shows her how it works.


Look at those princess fingers: "But it's cold, and I'll get dirty!"

This is NOT a smile!

She let out a squawk to let us know how unimpressed she was. She had liked admiring the ocean and the beach from the second we got to the beach house, but she didn't enjoy being so close to it now. She wanted to be in her daddy's arms, headed towards someplace warm!

Grant tried to explain to her and show her the joys of sand and the beach.
She listened but wasn't very convinced.
Soon after this, she told us (in not so many words) that the beach was not her favorite place to be and it was past her dinner time and shame on us for trying to convince her to enjoy something that wasn't on her plan for the evening.