Calm(er) Oceans
We hit the beach today after a couple of days break due to the really rough ocean caused by Tropical Storm Bertha. The waves were still strong, but nowhere near as rough as they were this weekend. We spent most of the day at the beach on Saturday, but the boys wound up not going in too much. There were several strong riptides and the life guards were calling groups over several times to talk about beach safety and what to do if caught in a rip tide (drift/swim parallel with the shore until you are out of it...don't try to swim in).
We saw probably about 7 or 8 "rescues"...nothing dramatic, just where the lifeguards had to swim out and pull folks back in. It looks like Ocean City has started something new this year which I really like...lifeguards on jet skis patrolling out a little beyond the waves. They towed a little platform behind the ski and could just zoom in and have the person climb on. Then they could motor closer in and let the person swim back. This makes really good sense, especially under conditions like we had this weekend. Sometimes it is hard for even the lifeguards to swim out.
We had one brief scary moment when Jason disappeared. He had been playing with Jack and Kyle, and then all of a sudden he was gone. He actually is extremely good at letting me know if he goes anywhere, so when we could not find him, I got a little worried. We had a couple of friends helping in the search and I had even told the lifeguards when we found him. He had gone further down the beach to play on some rocks...he thought that he had told us. On a normal day, I do not think I would have been so worried, but the tides being what they were, combined with the fact that he never goes off and without letting me know...not a good combination. But all was well.
We skipped the beach on Sunday since it was so rough. Jeff and the boys hung out, while I hit the local Starbucks trying to get some VaHomeschoolers work done (I find that taking a little bit of time on the weekend to myself while Jeff is down helps a whole lot). Monday was gray and overcast and looked like it was going to downpour all day, but we never got more than a few sprinkles. The boys went over to Jack's house to hang out and I ran errands.
Needless to say, it was nice getting back out on the beach this afternoon. We ended up staying out until about 6:30. It was gorgeous and Jason said the boogie boarding was terrific. I really need to find time to get the pictures I have taken up soon...
