Ocean en famille

By yesterday noon I was so antsy to get outside and the enjoy the sun.  School had been cancelled due to snow on Friday and when blue sky appeared on Saturday morning, I was ready to get out.  The beach called my name.  Selim didn't want to go:

     "Mom, it is going to be freezing."
     "No it's not.  The sun is shining; there isn't a lot of wind; and besides, you love the beach!"
     "But I'm so cozy in this spot of sun."
     "As soon as Daddy gets home, we are out of here."

Fast forward an hour or so.  All of us are in the truck heading east.

     Me:  "Isn't this great, we are all together, and going somewhere."
     Nedim: "We are going to be the only ones at the beach.  Nobody else is this crazy."
     Me: "You know, when we were dating, you used to take me to the beach whenever I asked.  We would go, even when it was snowing.  And now I have to twist your arm to get you to take me."
     "Nedim: "Selim, your Mom used to come visit me just as an excuse.  She really just wanted to go to the ocean."
     Selim: "Mom is that true?...Yeah Dad, we are going to be the only ones there.  Sheesh this is crazy."

I held my tongue.  I continued with my peppy banter, undaunted by my whiny family.  They were not going to get me down.  As we passed the Seacoast Science Center, the ocean viewing pull-out area was packed.  People had set up cameras on tripods, hoping to get the last glimpses of high surf due to the storm.

     "Oh yeah, we are going to be the only ones here."  I tried not to sound too sarcastic.

     Two sets of eyes and two frowns turned my way.  I smiled.  Just sayin'.

At Wallis Sands, we parked and walked to the beach.  Seaweed had washed up over the sea wall and covered the paths near the park benches.  It was low tide and shells and small rocks had piled up on the sand.  Selim raced to the beach and began his inspection looking for perfect shells and other treasures to bring home.

He spied sea foam bubbles.  "Mom, take a picture of the sea foam!"

     "Mom, take a picture of this pink sand.  I think it is made from crushed garnet."

      "Dad, come look."  

      "Here, get a close up on this rock."

     "Mom, can I climb up on the rocks?"

     Me: "Yes."
     Nedim: "No.  You'll hurt yourself."
     Me (to Nedim) "This is where our parenting styles differ.  I figure if Selim hurts himself, he will learn and not do it again.  You forget the risks you took as a boy and your first instinct is just to protect."

Selim didn't seem to hear his dad and soon, all three of us were on the jetty.  We were not the only ones.  But I knew enough not to test Nedim's patience and venture out to the edge as this family had done.

Pretty soon Selim had stripped off the gloves and jacket in order to get in to the tightest spaces he could, in order to find treasure.  While he hunted, Nedim and I sat on the lower rocks, faces in the sun, snuggling and watching the guys with the metal detectors wave their wands over the sand.

As Selim washed some shells in a tide pool he said, "I'm sorry Mom.  You know, sometimes my mind gets the better of me and I get tricked into a bad mood.  I shouldn't have given you a hard time about coming here.  This is the best day ever."

Bliss.

As we were walking back to the truck,  my purse now full of shells, this little voice next to be said, "This was so much fun, can we come back tomorrow?"

Slope Side

Friday I drove over to Ragged Mountain and met up with Robert, Selim, Jacob, and Jero.  This was Selim's first time skiing at a mountain.  He had been on skis once before, at the hill below the school that leads to the track and soccer field.  This was a big day.

I managed to get myself out of bed at 8:00 and on the road by 9:07.  The traffic was light and I made good time, arriving at the mountain at 11:00.  I expected that there would be lots of kids there since it was the last Friday of our school vacation week.  But when I drove in, I parked in Lot 2, right across the street from the main lot.  I found my way to the bunny slope and saw Robert and Selim right away.  They had been there for a half hour or so.  Selim was having a blast.  He hadn't had any major wipe outs and was getting the hang of turning and working on the hockey / parallel stop.

Ski technology has improved since I first took up skiing in the 70's.  Instead of trying to get up the bunny slope on a T-bar, now beginners get to ride a "magic carpet" contraption.  It is a big conveyor belt type of thing that they can step on and ride it to the top.  It is easy to get off and on and takes away any fear factor of falling off a T bar.

I watched for 45 minutes or so before we all went into the lodge for some lunch.  Jacob and Jero had been riding the beginner chair and had had a good morning of skiing and snow boarding.  Inside the lodge, Selim and I warmed up by the fire.  Fortified with sandwiches, apple slices, nuts, chips, lemonade, and cookies we headed back out.

After one more run on the bunny hill, Selim and Robert moved over to the chair lift.  It was so nice that there were so few people on the slopes.  They could ski right up to the entrance and never wait for more than one or two groups of people.  I was a bit anxious waiting for them to come into view.  But finally, I could spot Selim on the slopes.  As he approached, he gave me the victory wave.

They went up several more times before taking another break in the lodge.  Selim and I went into the sport shop and I bought him a pair of goggles.  If he continues to enjoy the sport, we can look into getting him a ski helmet next winter.

We went back out for another hour plus.  Everybody was having a great time.  At the very end, the wind freshened and I got a bit cold standing down at the base.  But all the guys had a great day.  They stopped skiing at 3:00.  It was the right decision -- the boys were getting a little tired and we wanted the last run to be wipe out free so that they would be eager to return.

At the end when he was steamy from effort, he took off his hat and helmet and gave me such a big boy look.  I was lucky that he only gave me a few "Mom" looks throughout the day.

While I waited for the guys to come down in between runs,  I walked around and took a few pictures of the area.

And the best part, Selim can't wait to go back.  May be next time I'll strap myself into a pair of skis and see if I can keep up with him.