Saturday 23 August 2008

A grand day out

With Sharon working at the Foodies at the Festival show in the Sheraton on Saturday, I decided to make the best of a half-decent day and head out to North Berwick with the lads. At least Rowan was old enough now not to be eating the sand! We ate our picnic on a bench near the tennis club then moved along to our favourite spot on the East Sands, by the rocky outcrop. A good couple of hours were spent digging and ferrying water to and from rock pools, climbing and clambering and jumping off into the sand, making "slippers" (the boys bury their feet and legs in the sand) and drawing pictures in the sand.

We then went in search of the sea which had been reluctant to return from its ebb tide, me leading the be-trunked boys through the seaweed and shells and stretches of rock until we reached the waves. Finn wanted to go right in - changed days indeed from previous visits when he wouldn't go anywhere the water's edge. Rowan was running in with gay abandon and Sean and Finn were playing at jumping over the waves. I was surprised Rowan lasted so long before falling over, even with me holding on to him, with the predictable shock of cold seawater changing his mood a little. He and his brothers switched their attention to a deep (for them) gulf gouged between two rocks which held pleasantly sun-warmed water compared to the chilly Firth of Forth. Rowan's weariness and coldness finally forced us back up the beach to the car for a protracted drying and sand removal and changing session in the boot of the Sharan. Sharon, no lover of beaches, would have hated it!

We headed into town for the obligatory ice-creams (tubs rather than cones as the latter always need "tidied up" as melting ice-cream escapes towards the childrens' hands, and I can't eat cones) and a play on the green by the anchor then three very tired boys dozed off as soon as I began the drive home. Except I went in the direction of Pencaitland and Pathhead instead, wakening them at the Stair Arms Hotel for a dinner out. Sean and Finn demolished their lasagne but Rowan was more intent on making noise than eating. Afterwards, they had a great runabout in the playpark adjoined to the hotel and were reluctant to head for home, where Sharon, without keys, was waiting for us.

With the sun shining on occasion, and the boys really enjoying the fresh air and playing by the sea, it really was a grand day out.

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