My spirited child is two hours in to his first nap of summer break after our morning field trip to Isaac's Beach. We met up with friends at Point Udall at the eastern end of St. Croix, and as advised, we removed all valuables and left the cars unlocked so that the thiefs would leave our windows intact when scrounging for change. Once out of the car the kids took off down the path in their typical Lord of the Flies demeanor with only the youngest staying behind to check back for moms on their tails.
The twenty minute downhill hike led us to a beautiful secluded beach with soft white sand and rolling waves. I thought...
This is so beautiful and secluded. The six kids we brought along won't bother anyone. How long would it take me to hike back to the car carrying a screaming child? A hurt and screaming child? Those waves are rough. Can he hear me yelling at him over the waves? Does my cell phone work here? Did I remember my pepper spray?
We made our way to a point that was protected by a reef about 30 feet out and set up camp for the morning. Since moving here in January the kids have adapted really well to playing at the beach with nothing but what they find there. Water, sand and other kids can keep my kids occupied for hours on end, and that's exactly what happened this morning. But to keep me busy there was a pretty strong current that kept pulling the kids down the beach. About every ten minutes I would gather up the four compadres in the water and get them to walk back up the beach about 50 feet only to repeat it again, and again, and again.
The beach was amazing. But I found it a little creepy, too. I thought...
We're at the eastern end of the island; the farthest eastern point in the US. There's nothing out there but ocean. There are a lot of reefs and rocks and large pieces of wood. That wood is creepy the way it's sticking out from the rocks. Are those trees? A ship wreck? An old ship wreck, or a new one? Time to move the kids back up the beach again.
We ate and moved the kids back along the beach about ten more times and then headed back for the ascending hike.
My youngest doesn't like sand, and unfortunately for him we live on an island in the Caribbean. Every beach trip concludes with sand drama and the cleaning of his feet with my handy Sand Off! Powder Infused Mitt. Today he was especially sensitive as he insisted (meaning whined while clinging to Teddy) that I remove every grain of sand from every crack and crevice. In the interest of not having to carry a screaming child up a 20-minute hike because of inadequate sand-removal, I found myself cleaning my son's boy-bits with my powdered mitt. Sand crisis averted.
Without much whining from anyone we made it back to the cars which didn't seem to be missing anything, and the windows were all intact. That's a good day at Jack and Isaac's Bay.
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