Xavier Goes to the Beach
Greetings to everyone.
Today, Rebecca dressed Xavier in his swimwear, loaded him into the car and headed for the beach. There is a large park 10 minutes away that has a lake with a nice beach. The sand is not so fine as an ocean beach, but still comfortable on the bare feet. The water is cloudy, partly due to the minerals in the water (it is called Soda Lake after all), and partly because of the lake's popularity: it was filled with kids and people swimming, paddle boating, surfing, etc.
Near the end of the beach with some trees, Rebecca and Xavier set out their blankets, made friends with the Xavier-aged boy on the next blanket over, then headed for the water.
In the water, Xavier practiced his swimming lessons quite unexpectedly. He was sitting in the lake, water to his waist. Mom was a few feet away, deeper into the lake. For some reason, Xavier took concern his mother was too far away and started crawling toward her. The lake bed quickly fell away from his hands and knees, and he was frantically crawl-paddling for mom. Though he was swallowing some lake water, he was not freaked out being so deep in the water and bobbing along not able to touch ground. His swimming lessons paid off in keeping him calm.
It was a fun day for both. Rebecca wants to do a repeat as a family this weekend, bringing a picnic lunch this time.