Labor Day Beach Party

So - what do you do on Labor Day in India? Well, usually just go to work. We don't get the US holidays! This year though, Rich thought since most of the other ISE's on his team were taking the day off to be with their families, so would he. (The American International School here does observe US holidays.)

We got up and took Sophia to school. She was so proud to show him she walks to class by herself and knows the way. Then we went off in search of good red apples. This can be a fun trick since all of the Red apples Sophia likes are Washington Reds imported from the US. Which why is it I can get them cheaper here then in the states at times? That's one I've yet to figure out. Then a quick stop at Another shop where we got her some sand toys to take on our trip to the Maldives at the end of September. A cup of cappuccino at Cafe Coffee Day and then waited for the Chief Minister and his entourage to go past us on his way to a meeting in Mamahallapuram.

Sophia was so excited to see us! She screamed Mommy! DADDY! We then played on the playground for a bit. Went home changed clothes (for her) and went to have lunch with Robert. From there began the search for auqa socks. Something we have found doesn't exsist in this city. The idea was to get these for Sophia since she freaks out when she has sand in her shoes and we wanted to go down to walk the beach in front of our house. After many stops and all afternoon in shops, we finally found a pair of shoes that would work and in her size (that's often the next trick!)

We got home and got her a small bucket and off we went to the beach. We had to walk to one end of our road to get beach access and go through a small fishing village. It was at this point I wished we had a camera. Children came flocking from everywhere to say "Hello Uncle, Hello Aunty" and look at Sophia. When we finally got past all of the children there was a group of men who were in awe of Sophia. Usually this involves a lot of snapping and clicking to get her attention and then out come the camera phones to take pictures of the blonde girl. Usually she's pretty good about it, other times crabby. They all want to hold her too...This is something she was not going to allow.

We had a blast looking for shells - especially when we went down to the waterline where the beach was cleaner and the water could come up around our feet. Sophia walked part way and then Daddy had to carry her because she was afraid of the water coming in and out. He stood and let the waves wash up around his ankles while holding her and you should've seen the look on her face. She went from "Mommy! Don't let the water take you!" to "Go out and get that shell Mommy!"

The walk truly was relaxing and somethingwe weill probably do again and again. My advice, if you're ever stressed out - go for a walk on the beach!