Neumann’s Own

This Memorial Day weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to take Ava and Audrey to the beach for their very first time! Yesterday, Sunday, it was beautiful and in the 70’s. Not to hot and just the right amount of wind to keep you cool. Ava and I had a Daddy/Ava afternoon at the Marina Park beach in Edmonds, WA. It couldn’t have been more perfect! Shortly before we left I believe Elizebeth asked Ava, “do you want to play Mario Kart or go to the beach?” The words, “Mario Kart,” were on the tip of her tongue when beach registered and she very excitedly said “THE BEACH!?!?!”

We arrived at the beach park and as we made our way over a grassy hill the ocean showed itself and then the beach. Never have I ever seen her so excited. She started to run yanking on my hand to hurry up. She didn’t have a swim suit or sandals yet so she just walked around at first in shoes and desperately wanted to go in the ocean. After exploring the sand and rocks and waves we played at the very cool big toy for a while where she went into true monkey mode and climbed like crazy and went down slides. But then it was back to the water and this time we took off her shoes and walked together in the ocean. I very earnestly warned her that the water would be cold, but she didn’t skip a beat. She went straight in and loved it. I however was having a flash back to when I was 7 years old, newly arrived to Washington coming from Maui. We went to Lake Chelan and I jumped in the lake assuming it was just like Maui. WRONG!

Ava and I raced around the water for just a short time before she fell on her bottom getting her shorts wet. Then eventually she pretty much got her whole body wet. That’s when the really fun began. She was born to swim, just like her dad. I can safely say that this was the best day in Ava’s life yet!Today I was all set up for Daddy/Audrey day at the same beach. The weather wasn’t beautiful like yesterday. In fact, it was lightly raining. But I wanted Audrey to experience the beach too so she can get a feel for it. We didn’t go in the water, not for lack of Audrey trying, but we played in the wet sand and walked around exploring the rocks and curves of the beach. Audrey had a great time and really loved the sandy terrain. The big toy was too wet to play on, so we walked over the bridge they had and looked at boats. She too had a great time and didn’t want to leave. While Audrey and I were at the beach, Ava and Elizebeth went to the mall to get a swim suit. This next weekend we should be going swimming in the ProClub pools!This has definitely been one of the best weekends ever. Love those girls!

Papa Sean.

PS Here is the video I took with my camera phone: