This Is the Part I Don't Like

A few weeks ago, Cole and Eli began to insist that their summer vacation would be incomplete if we didn't make a trip to the beach, so last Thursday, the Peters Family Band took the day off and headed for the sandy shores of Wilmington, NC.

Michael and I are failures at spontaneous travel:

• I checked the weather that morning...for the wrong city. Apparently, sunny in Raleigh does not mean sunny in Wilmington.

• Michael forgot to pack towels. Perhaps the most important item for a trip to the beach.

But the sun eventually came out, the beach was practically empty, and the towels were hardly missed.


As soon as we arrived, Cole and Eli dashed into the ocean, punching and kicking the waves like ninjas. They challenged themselves to wade farther and farther into the water and then laughed as they were knocked backward by the waves. Michael headed for deep water until all I could see of him was his head bobbing up and down above the waves.

Rylan and I spent most of our time in a shallow pool of water on the beach. The one time I successfully coaxed him to wade with me into the ocean, the waves crashed into our feet, and he cringed and squealed,

"This is the part I don't like!"

I know what he means. I much prefer the placid calm and gently lapping waves of lakes to the powerful crashing waves of the ocean. On the other hand, if we never spent any time at the beach, I wouldn't get to take priceless pictures of my children buried in the sand such as this gem:


This is the part I like a lot.