The new May

The dream

Our trip to Normandy marked the first time the Boy felt the sand between his toes and streaked across the beach to paddle in icy water. I have an unexplainable obsession that childhood should involve as much time as possible running around on a beach, whatever the weather. I did grow up a mile from the sea, although admittedly that stretch of coast was more The Sea The Sea than The Beach, with nary a grain of sand for miles upon miles of rugged pebbles and assorted nuclear power stations. Still. The seaside is the seaside, and I suppose it's also the exact opposite of my babies' year-round urban habitat with only hard wood floors and concrete beneath their feet.

Those few short minutes of sandy freedom before the heavens opened again and we piled into our soggy wagon with teeth chattering were fantastic. Last summer was all about LaBaby's imminent and then actual arrival, and I felt we deprived the Boy of a proper childhood summer - we stayed in Paris for the birth in July and by the time we emerged from the baby haze winter had blown into town (that would be August).

This year I am determined to make up for it and give both the children a chance to escape apartment life and let their hair down somewhere I don't have to have a wrist strap on them at all times. I want the boy to go all Chariots of Fire again and shriek with sheer joy as his little legs carry him through the shallows. His face registering a hitherto unseen primal happiness as he pauses for breath before charging back into the waves.

This year we have gone all out and booked two holidays to the Atlantic coast - to the bay of Arcachon near Bordeaux, and later to La Rochelle, all in the hopes of seeing that look on his face again, for more than just an hour. My only fear now is for the weather which.... I can't even contemplate really, the tragedy of our current weather system is too horrendous for words.  Is there any fate worse than being under house-arrest for a three day weekend with 2 toddlers while the rain beats your windows and you watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the fifth time?* Well actually yes...
I think this pretty much says it all:

The reality: out and about in May

*fully aware that there are many worse fates, and am particularly mindful of these victims and their families in Oklahoma right now.