Swimming with the jellies!

Yesterday Chris and Cecily made more chocolate ice cream. I read for awhile. Olivia wanted to fly kites but it was cold and windy outside. I couldn't believe it! I thought the east coast was having record high temps. Not yesterday! Finally we stood on the porch and flew the kite from there. Yes, the wind was that strong. After dark Alfred and Cecily took the kids for a walk on the beach. I would have gone too, but didn't have warm enough clothing. Becca put on a movie and I fell asleep on the couch. It's funny: at home I have to listen to my meditation cd to fall asleep. Here I fall asleep before bedtime every night.
I woke to the sounds of kids up by themselves. William was fixing pancakes for himself, and had already made cocoa milk for Olivia. He is 8. I took over. After awhile Cecily got up and then I went back to bed, but not for long. I had breakfast and headed out to the beach. The water temp was perfect, but the jellyfish were everywhere. They had been dashed in the surf all week and there were parts of them all over. Disappointed and frustrated, I went back to the house. I sat under the house sifting sand to get out the cigarette butts and trash. I collected a whole bucketful. Then I dusted myself off and went inside for lunch. After lunch I did a few Sudoku puzzles. A group went to the pool, so I tried the beach again, this time with the tide going out. Still full of jellyfish. I came back and the group had gone in. So I sifted more sand, collecting old clothespins and popped balloons. Around 5 I went back to the beach. There were a few people out enjoying the waves while the rest of us watched from the beach. I was determined to go out there myself. Taking a deep breath, I waded through the polka-dotted surf into the waves. The jellies were not so populous there. But there was lots of seaweed, so it still wasn't fun. I got knocked down by a wave and decided to come in. I had refused to let jellyfish carcasses stop me from going in the ocean. Walking back, I realized that I had been touched by them, feeling little pinpricks on my legs. So I took a swim in the pool until I thought supper was ready. But it wasn't, so I got on Chris' computer while he and Cecily finished making it.