If Everybody Had An Ocean

Do you think that in Heaven every day starts with an early morning walk on the beach? I do. Last week Kason and I went with Reed's family to the beach. (Unfortunately Reed was at a training in St. Louis - we really really missed him!) They rented a beach house on Onslow Beach which is about a 3 hour drive. It was so much fun! Every morning when Kason would wake up at 6:30 (that is early morning to me...if it's not early morning for you than you have my condolences) we went for a walk on the beach. Kason was tucked comfortably into the beloved Snugly and I would walk in the shallow part of the water and look for shark's teeth and shells while the waves splashed in and out against my legs. The water was just the perfect temperature and the air was already warm and thick with humidity. I could do that every day for the rest of my life! Kason was usually mesmerized by the waves on our little walks. On our last day we met Grammy and Grampy out on the beach and Grampy held Kason who promptly laid his head down and fell asleep on Grampy's shoulder, it was so sweet. Why doesn't he ever do that for me :). The water is not a source of fear for Kason in the least. He loves it! He liked sitting in the sand and having the waves wash over his legs. We did have to work on not eating the sand though. The first thing he did when I set him down on our first day was grab a big handful of sand and stick it in his mouth, because how are you supposed to know if something is cool or not if you don't put it in your mouth, right? He did overcome that obstacle. Probably because I scared him half to death with my loud, "NO" every time a little handful of sand started inching it's way towards his mouth. He jumped about ten feet with each shout (poor kid), but it only took a few times until his hunger for sand was forgotten (I think that's called aversion shock therapy). After that he contented himself with digging his chubby little fingers and toes as deep as he could into the sand. He also loved the shower. On the deck of the beach house there was a shower head for rinsing off sand and ocean grime before going into the house. The water was freezing, but Kason loved it and opened his mouth wide for a drink every time we passed. I love his funny little personality! One day we went down to join Grammy in the sand and found a crab on her towel. It was cool, but kind of creepy. Crabs remind me too much of spiders. It took all the courage I could muster just to get close enough to take the picture. Kason's uncles Stuart and Greg were there and also Greg's friend Erin. Stuart built a sand castle with two motes and a draw bridge and everthing. It was pretty cool. I think he got more use out of the sand toys we bought for Kason then Kason did. Next year Kason may be a little more interested in sand castle building. Unfortunately I dropped my camera into the water on the first day we were there, so all pictures that we have of Kason's first time at the beach were taken on my cell phone. It worked out okay though because I was able to keep Reed constantly updated with Picture Mail. Reed did very well at his training in St. Louis. One of the trainers he was working with told him that if you threw all of the top Edward Jones advisers into a bag, shook them all together and pulled out one super advisor it would be Reed. We are so proud! He has been doing his first round of contacting this week and is surprised at how nice and welcoming people are. His past experience with knocking on doors led him to believe that most people were unreceptive and usually rude to young men in suits who come knocking on their doors. Hmm. Reed did great in St. Louis and is still overjoyed to be working, but next time we go to the beach we are definitely taking him with us!