Fun in the Sun.

Fun in the sun.

The weather in Israel this time of year is great. The sun is out and it is warm with a gentle breeze. July-August is a nightmare with scorching heat and ridiculous humidity. I once came out of the airport on a visit and felt as if I stepped into a steam sauna. Literally. It is not quite perfect for going to the beach as the water is still a tiny bit cool, but I decided yesterday to finally give it a try. The last two times Blake came to visit it was winter time so even though we stayed near the sea we did not go for a dip.

I don't know what took me so long, but after being here for over three weeks I finally took him to the beach yesterday. Blake's first encounter with a sea was on our last holiday in Barbados just after his first birthday, so his standards were quite high, but the beach in Tel-Aviv proved to live up to them. The beach was clean and the water was fairly calm with gentle waves.

Sand! It's so grainy!

I got the to the beach, took Blake's clothes off and left him in his Swimmers ( a water-proof diaper). I bought him a set of beach toys including a bucket, spade, watering can and so on. Blake was very excited and started playing in the sand, but very quickly he discovered that it is much more fun playing in the water. He just sat in the water and played with the soft mud, but occasionally he lost his balance or got splashed by a wave, so he did not make it through the experience dry.

Water! It's so watery!

I found it a bit odd to see so many toddlers running around naked. I was pretty sure at least one of them was five. I know from pictures that my parents let me prance around naked at the beach, but that was a different time. I may have become jaded and cynical, but I wondered how many of the people sitting and lying around were pedophiles who were enjoying the view - who could easily take snaps of the children with their iPhones. In fact, I had to be very careful when taking pictures and videos of Blake to avoid getting any underage genitalia caught in the frame by mistake, which was a bit tricky with them running all over the place.

"I peed in the water!" One of the boys shouted and ran out of the water giggling.

Another boy topped him by peeing in the water, scooping it in a plastic bucket and then asking "Who wants water with my pee in it?".

Helicopters! They are so... Helicoptery!

The vicinity to Sde Dov Airpot meant lots of helicopters and planes taking off and landing over the stretch of beach which was a huge bonus for Blake. When it was time to go he had a massive tantrum, but I assured him we would come back tomorrow and we indeed did, with Daddy to boot. I will try my best to take him there every afternoon for as long as we are in Israel.

Blake's true love.

The nice thing about Blake is that as much as he loves his electronic gizmos, take him outside and he could not care less about any of them. He loves running and exploring and being active and on the second visit to the beach with daddy he was all over the place, running up and down the beach and anywhere in between. But when we got home it was very comforting and fun to snuggle with his iPod, play games, learn stuff and watch cartoons. He needs to rest for tomorrow's beach excursion!

`God, are you there? It's me, Blake. Can you get me an iPad please?`

Mickey