A day at the Beach with her big Brother

The Santa Monica Pier.

Have you ever been? I've lived in Southern California my entire life and this was my first visit to this Beach. What's more, this is the Lollygaggers first visit to any beach. We came to meet up with the Lollygagger's big brother. He's the greatest big brother any child could wish for. He's the greatest son any parent could wish for. He's generous, charming and down right cute.

I wish I could take credit for his upbringing, but I can't. He's my step-son. Between his mom and my wonderful husband, he turned out to be as great a man as his dad.
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The Lollygagger was anxious for him to arrive so she could torture him and drag him by the hand to all parts of the city.

During her wait, she gingerly walked into the receding water for her first time. She liked the feel of her toes sinking into the sand, the water swirling at her ankles, and the sound of the waves colliding on the beach. She said the sound feels like butterflies in her chest.

She stumbled a bit when a large wave reached for her ankles and attempted to sweep her away, so daddy came to her rescue. They held hands while she jumped over the shallow tide washing in and out, avoiding the pull of the ocean on her ankles.

When her brother arrived, she forgot all about daddy and left him standing in the water feeling like yesterdays news. I think he feels a mixture of freedom and loneliness when her brother shows up. She so totally turns her attention to her big brother, that all else is forgotten and discarded.

He plays with her until she is worn out, which is a tough task to manage. She's like the energizer bunny; she never runs out of energy.

Wait, there was at least twenty minutes of diverted attention. I had the pleasure of standing in line with her for a Bungy-type of ride that never happened. See the child on the right? He belongs to the woman on the left. I didn't know he would be chivied in front of us. Nor did I know she had five other kids running a muck on the pier who would also be chivied in front of us. I did the math and decided a 15 minute joy ride for each of her children would be an unreasonable wait, so we left.

The Lollygagger was not amused.

Instead, we got her on the Dragon Swing where she had a great time.

She talked her brother into this water target game, who in turn talked the Lollygaggers daddy into it too. She won, of course.

By the time we climbed back into the car and left the beach, she was exhausted to the point of being rendered unconscious within three minutes of starting the car. We weren't even out of the parking lot.

I love these days we can spend together. Especially when her big brother is there.