Tuesday was our usual park date with friends. This week, we ventured to my old hometown of Blaine to the beach at the lake. Wait, what? A beach at a lake...in Blaine?? Those words don't really go together. When I was young there was this little creek that wound through our development that we'd wade through. I'm surprised we didn't get some sort of crazy fungus from that. Blaine consisted of housing developments that sprang up in the 50s and 60s in all sorts of beautiful shades of pastel. Then there was a housing boom in the 70s and 80s (the big houses...haha!). Everything was pretty much circa 1965. Throw in a few mobile home parks and then cover the rest of the open land with sod farms and you had Blaine. Eventually, the sod farms were bought up in the 2000s, this TPC golf course opened and gigantic houses sprang up along with food and shopping options. And this summer, a new park opened at the lake. The man-made lake in a new housing development. And it was nice. I have to admit, I'm completely jealous that this didn't exist when I was little. Not only is it a big playground, but it's a great beach with combed, fine sand and a splash pad. Complete with nice changing rooms and a boat house. What?! Blaine?! It still confuses me, but I was happy to partake.
Ella...not so much. Right away, upon seeing the splash pad and her friends running through it, Ella asked to get her swimsuit on. But, once she was dressed for water fun, she wanted nothing to do with the splash pad. I tried coaxing her through it to no avail. So, we headed to the beach.
Fine, I'll stand in the water, but I'm not going to enjoy it.
We found a nice little patch of sand near friends and set up our camp. And Ella tried to climb back in her stroller and told me "Done! GO!" She didn't want to be there and was making it completely clear to me. I, however, had just spent the morning trying to get out the door for the beach and then drove 40 minutes to get there...she was going to have fun, even if it killed her.
Ella was like, "Pack up this baby and let's go or I'm leaving myself!"
But Lily liked being at the beach with me
I put Lily in the carrier and went and stood in the water while Ella hovered between the stroller and water's edge. Eventually, she crept in, not willing to crack a smile and give me any sort of satisfaction that the crazy morning was worth the hassle. And finally, after an hour of grumping to leave, she finally cracked. Cracked a smile and let loose. Running and splashing through the water, laughing, giggling...she could grump no longer. Then, she realized that all of that icky sand that she hates walking on did something magical near the water. It made her favorite concoction - mud. If there's one thing Ella likes, it's mud.
She earned the name Mud Monster after all of her mud tossing left her covered and streaked in mud. So maybe in the end, she could concede that I wasn't the worst mother on the face of the Earth for bringing her to Blaine, of all places.
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