Journeys›Photograph

Shells and grandparents on the beach

·#beach#summer#family#kids#sunsets#ocean
A child in a white outfit stands by a person relaxing on a blue beach chair on a sandy beach.

The grandparents were with us on the beach today, which changed the pace of everything. The little one spent a long stretch filling a yellow bucket, picking shells and bits of coral one at a time out of an open palm — grandpa held the finds, the kid did the sorting. Very serious business, no shell taken without inspection.

The baby mostly worked on climbing over an inflatable turtle in the sand, which kept trying to fold up underneath. Grandma sat down at the waterline with one of the kids and they watched the waves come in for a while, a plastic chair full of beach toys standing guard next to them.

We stayed through the end of the day. The sun went down straight out over the water behind the palms, and nobody was in a hurry to pack up the towels.

Silhouetted palm trees frame a golden sunset over calm ocean water, with a sandy beach and a few people.A child on a sandy beach with a yellow bucket looks at shells offered by an adult's hand.Silhouetted palm trees and a thatched umbrella frame a sunset over the ocean with a rock in the water.A child in a white dress looks closely at a large white flower next to a bright window.A child in a dress stands in a dark room, looking out a bright window with a tall potted plant.A baby in white crawls on a sandy beach next to a large, colorful inflatable turtle toy.A person and a child sit on a sandy beach facing the ocean, with an empty chair and lounge chairs nearby.A thatched-roof structure on a patio overlooks a rocky shore and pier extending into a turquoise ocean under a cloudy sky.

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