Throwing Stones & Building Castles: The Simple Things

Whenever people hear where we live, we always get a similar response; “Oh you’re so lucky to live by the beach!”. And it’s true, we really are. But when you live so close to something, you tend to take it for granted. I think nothing about the fact that we have a multitude of (relatively famous) beaches within a ten minute drive from our home, or that we visit most weeks; normally for a walk along the sea-front. It’s not that it ever loses it’s magic, it’s just… our normal. 

But I forget that our normal can still be amazing to a toddler. That sometimes it’s worth taking the time to not walk and just sit, soak up some beach life and take part in the simple things. Like throwing pebbles into the sea and building castles in the sand. So this week, we’ve done just that.

Sure, it was spitting with rain by the time we got there. It was a dusky light that turned to darkness as we made our way back to the car. It was cold, it was January and whilst we were surrounded by people eating fish and chips, we managed to time it that every single one had shut when we got there. But it was also kind of perfect.

We sat on the pebbles and counted them out. We picked out our favourites and piled them on top of our feet. We walked along the breakwater and threw them into the sea (not that any of them came close of course!). We did huge jumps off of the side, much to the delight of Dave’s knees. Then when we’d had enough, we wandered along to the sandier part and sat there on the slightly damp sand building a castle and attempting to put in a tunnel.

The sensible part of me would have worried about the fact we, and the buggy, were all getting surprisingly wet. It would have worried about us getting sand everywhere, getting damp from sitting on the ground and that despite it fast approaching bedtime, we were still out, in the dark, having fun. And yet, it was the best part of our family week, even if the car does now resemble a damp sandpit!

Linked up with The Ordinary Moments.