Beach Day!

When I was growing up my parents rarely sent us to any long-term summer programs.  We'd take enrichment programs like tennis, cooking, and art classes but we never went to summer school or summer fun.  It actually bummed me out because I always yearned to be able to do the same things my friends did.  Since my parents were both educators and didn't work we did a lot of outdoor things and would spend all day at the beach swimming, boogie boarding, fishing, and crabbing.  Some times it was just our family, other times we'd hang with the Millani Soccer ohana.

I can vividly remember the days we'd spend at Ali'i Beach in Haleiwa.  The adults would stay at the park eating and talking and the kids would be on the beach swimming and body boarding.  We'd be in the water for hours pre-sunscreen era from early morning until past sunset.  We'd occasionally go back to the park to eat the tons of potluck food that everyone brought.  The best part would be driving home from the beach through the dark can fields. Often they would be burning them and it was a scary but spectacular sight.  I have such warm memories of my days spent at the beach and when I think of summer these memories always come back to me.

Today we packed up the kids with my parents and drove to the other side of the island to Bellows Beach. Mom made her famous egg omelets that we always had at the beach growing up and we picked up some other foods to munch on.

It was a gorgeous Hawaii day at Bellows.  The water was pristine aquamarine, the sky a Kodak cobalt blue, and the fine sand a gorgeous white.  The kids were excited to be at the beach and even the signs warning of Portuguese Man O War didn't damper anyone's spirits.

We had a great time playing and building in the sand and body boarding.  The kids loved catching the waves and although N shied away from it after wiping out a few times, D continued to catch wave after wave with her Daddy.

I enjoyed a nice run on the beach, 1.5 miles in all.   The fine sand was hard enough to run on and soft enough to not hurt my feet.  The cool water felt perfect on my legs that were recovering from a torturous 10 mile training run through Diamond Head, Kahala, and Aina Haina yesterday.  I even caught a few waves with the kids and wiped out a handful of times nearly losing my Dior sunnies I had on my head!!!

Today was truly a perfect day spent with my family.  It was invigorating, uplifting, renewing and the hubby and I even came home and did a 3 mile run after the long day in the sun.  As I sit here typing I am replaying the great day and hoping for more perfect summer days once Summer School is over in two weeks.  So lucky I live Hawaii.  We have to take a trek to Ali'i Beach next.