Now that Summer has reared up its hot head, what better time to bring up a classic trip to the beach?  Here in Houston it’s been 90-98 degrees for the last few weeks.  A beach trip sounds heavenly.

I remember my mom driving us down to Galveston and laughing while my sisters and I chased hermit crabs in the sand.  I also dug in vain looking for sand dollars and collected a bunch of pretty shells.  We brought kites on a few of those trips and worked at getting them in the air.  I loved watching the sea gulls fly next to the kites for a few seconds…trying to figure out what the heck was imposing on their air space and wondering if it was edible. 

On some day trips, I’d wade out with my mom or my grandpa and look at the fish in the waves.  Sometimes my uncle would bring a throw net and we would see how many tiny gray fish we could get for my Indonesian aunt to fry up.  I always giggled when she’d eat them bones and all, especially when she’d offer one to me – I’d run away laughing and making gagging sounds just to annoy her.  Eventually I tried one and they honestly weren’t that bad.

The best trips were either when I was alone with my mom or when there was a huge group of family and friends.  When it was just me and mom, we’d walk along the edge of the surf and she’d tell me all about hermit crabs and jelly fish.  She made up a few stories and would go out of her way to make me laugh.  When there was a huge group, I could talk each of my grandparents or uncles to keep me company…kind of in shifts, lol.  I didn’t realize how annoying I actually must have been until I had little sisters of my own.  Hahaha.  I now know why they took turns keeping up with me. 

Do you have any great beach memories?  Any awful ones?