Perdido: Day 2

As the old saying goes, even a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work. Today was definitely not a bad day, though. Went down to the beach around 10:00 or so; this time we were ready for Ellie to go a little deeper into the ocean. Theresa doesn't like getting into the ocean: too many critters for her. I, on the other hand, find that the best part of the beach. Ellie did really well out there. Of course I hung onto her the whole time (and she held onto me) and she had a lifejacket on, but near the end she was wanting a little more freedom...and even let go of me for a little while to kick her legs and so on. Good times. I'm glad she's not afraid of the ocean...but that also means we'll have to keep an eye on her. At one point I thought how cool it was to be out there with my daughter. I have a lot of fond memories of me and my mother digging around for sand dollars, snorkeling with a diving mask while looking for fish, and riding the waves in as I swam. Now I've started making new memories...and more importantly watching my daughter make her own. Well, she probably won't remember much of this, but she certainly will in the future.

It was mercilessly hot today. I spotted a bank clock that said it was 108. I don't think it was THAT hot, but it touched 100 easily. That meant that we had a short morning beach session and went back after the sun started going down.

Something that has always stuck with me about the ocean is it's timelessness. As we would look at vacation pictures, my mom used to always remark when she'd see pictures of the ocean that the waves are crashing there now, just like they did on our trip. They'll be crashing long after we leave here too, just like they've been when the first Spanish explorers visited this island and named it, just like they've been crashing for the past 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000 years. It helps you put things into perspective a bit, I think. The ocean is so vast, so powerful, and the footprints Ellie, Theresa, and I left there today are probably gone by now...or certainly will be in the next few days. Replaced with other footprints, washed away by the tide. What does that mean? I don't know...maybe that we just need to enjoy what little time we have. The tide always comes in and takes a part of us with it...concentrate on "now" and less on what's "next."

Tomorrow: early morning at the beach, off to a zoo (a very meager zoo from what I understand), naptime for Ellie (and probably us too), then maybe a couple of hours at a water park. Life is good.

Live, on location...

Posting this from beautiful Perdido Key, FL tonight! Ellie's first real road trip went great. We left at 3:00 AM this morning (after a miserable night's sleep...maybe 3 hours for me). Ellie was wired and I was beginning to think our plan for leaving early so she would sleep most of the way was pretty dumb. But as we crossed the state line into Alabama I looked back to show her the rocket (if you've seen it, you'll remember it) and her eyes were REALLY heavy. By the time we got to the rocket, she was out. She slept until we woke her up several hours later in Montgomery. The rest of the way she was a little angel. It's amazing how a Mickey Mouse DVD will go a long way to satisfying a child. How did my parents and grandparents' generation deal with road trips without DVDs?

In any event, it was a very easy trip down. About 8 hours drive time, but it was a breeze. We arrived around 12:30 PM and were able to check right in. Just in time for Ellie's nap. We had to temper our excitement to see the beach for a little while until she slept.

We took her down to the beach this afternoon and it was really something else. She is very picky about being dirty...hates crumbs on her hands, etc. So we figured sand on her feet would drive her into a fit. She loved it! The whole time we walked down there she was saying "beach!" and "ocean!" and "water!" over and over again. Once she put her feet into the water and another wave came in, she got a little freaked out but she turned it into a game to chase the waves out and run away before another one got to her. Call it fatherly pride, but it was really cute. She cried when we took her away. But there'll be plenty more of the ocean tomorrow...although tomorrow will be a record high here (101 with a heat index of 110). So we'll have to limit ourselves.

I'll post pictures when I get back. I'm using someone else's laptop and I'm sure he won't want a bunch of Ellie's pictures loaded on here.

Anyways, it is really something else to see my child soak all of this in. It's like seeing it for the first time myself...and that's not just hyperbole.