Hey, it's the sun, and it makes me shine...

There was an eagerly-anticipated NCT Nearly New sale yesterday - I love going to these sales and fighting through the masses to stock up with bigger clothes and toy bargains. However, we made the mistake of starting off the day with a 'quick' trip to the beach. It's been so hot this week that we've been careful to keep J-cub out of the sun between 11am and 3pm, which pretty much scuppers any of our usual "let's go to the beach today" ideas.

A little forward planning yesterday saw us leave the house by 9.30, and we were at the beach by 10. The sale ran from 10.30am-1.30pm, so we figured an hour or so at the beach would get us there in plenty of time.

But the beach was just TOO lovely. It was a little overcast, so the sun wasn't too strong, and with liberal half-hourly applications of Factor 50 sunscreen, and J-cub's UV sunsuit, and our UV tent, we figured we could stretch our stay out a little.

J-cub's Auntie Rachel and I took him for a toddle down to the sea, while Jamie languished in the tent with Ali Smith and a bad back. As we walked, J-cub repeatedly plumped down on his little bum to investigate tide pools, crabs, stones, shells and general detritus. Whilst he loved letting grains of dry sand run between his fingers, he was even more excited by smacking the wet sand and trying to pick up handfuls of it.

He emphatically did not like walking on the hot dry sand, but almost got up to a run on the hard wet sand, shouting gleefully as he spied something else of interest.

He had his second dip in the sea - the first was inflicted on him at 6 months but yesterday he walked right into the sea of his own accord, laughed at the waves, wasn't at all bothered by the cold and even washed the sand off his hands before coming out.

We'd hastily packed some snacks before we left, which turned into a makeshift lunch when we realised it was midday. J-cub is currently crazy about Welsh cakes, and he happily crumbled them all over the tent, totally ignoring the more healthy options on offer.

He sensibly stayed out of the sun while his sun-suit and nappy wrap dried, happy to lie in the tent and look at the beautiful view. Not long after, he started rubbing his eyes and yawning, so we called it a day and packed up.

We got back to the car park at 12.50pm, and gave up any hope of going to the sale. Being drenched in sweat and covered in sticky-sand-and-sunscreen had nothing to do with our decision, honest.

J-cub fell asleep as soon as we got in the car, slept for the 30-minute drive home, was transferred to the cot still asleep, and slept for a further 3 hours! All that healthy sea air and toddling is very tiring.

Living near the beach makes me so happy :D