Weekend Sand Play @ East Coast Park

Often times, weekends are usually littered with unfinished work we take home to complete before Monday deadlines, grocery shopping to restock the fridge, errands to run, people to visit.... but not today! Well, at least for Daddy. Mommy had an appointment, and Daddy planned to take the girls out for a favourite past time we hadn't done for a while.... sand play at the beach!

We left the house early and found a spot with a bench near the sand by 8.30 am so the sun wouldn't be too hot. In a large bag were some sand toys, towels and bathing gear, a change of clothes, water bottles, a portable cooler with cut oranges, apples, carrots and cheese, wet wipes, tissues and hand sanitizers. We found a nice spot with a stone bench near the sand about a hundred metres from the nearest toilet to set our stuff down.

Immediately, the girls swung into action, dumped their sandals, plonked the gear down on the beach, and began digging, filling, sprinkling, and best of all, imagining all the things they could do with sand. One found some mangrove leaves and seeds brought in by the incoming tide and started playing "gardener". The other began stirring up some soup and filling out a washed up bottle to make an ice-cream cone with seashell toppings for Daddy. The girls have come a long way from the first time we brought them to the beach, and the extended cloudy weather meant that by 10.30 am, the weather would still be nice and cool for a longer play time than expected, during which they took breaks to finish up all the snacks we brought along. The older girl took the liberty to splash around in the incoming tide while the younger one wasn't very ready to explore the murky waters just yet. To her, the roaring waves still appeared rather intimidating, and she kept high and dry.

Ice-cream anyone?

Soup's coming right up!

After the play time, we adjorned to the toilet area to rinse our gear and proceed for an 'outdoor shower'. The public showers prohibit bathing in the nude, and the girls soaped and scrubbed through their clothes. It was an opportunity to rinse the sand off their clothes too anyway. A quick change in the changing rooms, combing of hair, sips of water, and we were ready for lunch.

"I press, you wash"

"This is the way we wash our hair..."

Daddy decided to give the girls a treat by bringing them to one of their favourite fastfood restaurants: Burger King. Breakfast was still being served and the two girls had a kids' meal each with an orange juice and an ice Milo.

After the hearty meal, we caught a cab back home in time for a short afternoon nap for everyone... including a tired Daddy. But wouldn't it be nice if every weekend was like this?