I thought the ocean would be the perfect place for Pat and I to take the kids this past weekend.
I’ve been along the Oregon coast (you should go) and also to California and Hawaii, but have never visited the ocean in my own state. How does one not visit ones own ocean?** I know!
And then I remembered how much I actually dislike sand and salt water and WIND and I realized that’s exactly why my interactions with the ocean have been so minimal. It’s because I don’t care.
But I decided to care on Sunday.
We ended up renting an electric boat that went no faster than 5 miles an hour while weaving in and out of canals that weren’t actually even attached to the ocean and the kids were in heaven. They saw racoons and baby ducks and deer and I was all “See I KNEW going to the ocean was an awesome idea! WE SHOULD LIVE HERE!”
And then we drove over to the actual ocean and I all was all “look at all the sand and salt water and wind…doesn’t that look like fun kids??”
I had pictured Mother’s Isle…myself on the beach in my retro suit, the children splashing in and out of the water until sundown, but instead pulled my hoodie over my head, wrapped a gigantic blanket around my family and willed myself to brave the freezing wind and sand and saltwater until my kids had had their fill.
Kainoa and Mr. Hawaii were done within five minutes. Pat is convinced my blood is different than his Hawaiian blood and that he is physically incapable of tolerating a cold ocean.
The girls and I forged ahead.
And by ‘the girls and I’, I mean…Maile and Laina actually played in the freezing cold ocean while I cocooned myself in our blanket to protect myself from the elements until they were done.
It wasn’t easy.
But I survived.
We won’t be moving there after all.
In action:
**My sister told me I make it sound like I “grew up in Ohio or something” where water is replaced with corn fields. To be clear, I live near many bodies of water that feed into the ocean within minutes of our home that we visit often. One might argue *cough my sister* that the bodies of water I frequent ARE the ocean, but I say it’s not the same. When I say I “haven’t been to the ocean in our state” I mean like the actual OCEAN ocean…you know…with expansive beaches and large waves and horses and kites and that kind of thing. I do not live in Ohio, but visiting a corn field is next on my list!**