the beach for New Years
My parents traditionally observe New Years Day with a a visit to the beach at Plum Island. We've never gone with them before, but this year it was one of not so many chances for the boys to see their cousins, so we made it happen. It's not like it's ever too much of a hardship to visit a beach!
the sea
Because we can get out of the house quicker than some other people we made it up to Newburyport with over half an hour to spare, so we stopped at the Audobon visitor center at Joppa Flats. I'd never been in before—it's fantastic! We got to look through telescopes, play with shells and learn about birds, plus Lijah and I did some arts and crafts together. And there was a gift shop!
just like John James Audobon!
Then after a quick lunch in the back of the car it was off to the beach! It was pretty mild when we were leaving home, but with the breeze the beach wasn't mild at all—in fact it felt downright arctic. So I was dismayed to see that Lijah hadn't actually brought a coat, and we had a little lesson on the difference between coats and sweatshirts. Luckily, running with cousins is a warming activity so he survived. We took a nice long walk on the beach and admired the moderate waves. As cold as it was, many of us stayed comfortably away from the water.
beach artist
But not everyone.
look out!
Harvey and Zion each got pretty damp, actually. But the wind dried them off very nicely as the walk went on! After they were done teasing the water the cousins enjoyed collecting driftwood and just hanging out together. It was a lovely time.
beach cousins
Then we finished up the afternoon by driving to Cambridge to go out to eat at a fish restaurant. Maybe we could have found one in Newburyport, but Grandpa had stayed back home in Middlesex County—he was nursing a cold—and he's the one with the money, so we had to find him before we could have dinner. All in all, New Years Day felt very well celebrated, and I'm glad we got to be part of the fun.