The Other Half

Yesterday, we went to a playdate with a kid from Annie's class. This family is really down to earth, and Annie and this little girl have become inseparable. Since the weather has been great- I asked the mom if she would like to join us at a public park one day after school. She says, "why don't you guys come over and use our beach?"

Yes, folks. They have a private beach. In a gated community, not far from where we stayed this summer. I had heard about this place, but never really thought I'd be hanging out there. And yet, yesterday afternoon, at 1pm, I drove my dirty Honda Odyssey through the gates, past the hundreds of golf carts (that's what the residents drive, and yes, most of them have baby seats in them!), under a tunnel, and met up with our friends.

The mom had been playing beach volleyball all morning (she does this every Thursday, with 8 or so friends). She's also a regular surfer, and runs triathalons. I'm good at eating cake. And yet, we really hit it off, and loved watching our kids dig in the sand and fill their buckets.

Then, just like out of a Disney movie, the mom says "Oh hey! Look over there!" A little seal swam close to the shore, and popped his head up as if to say hello. Ten minutes later, two pods of dolphins swam by, and we saw 12 of them jumping in and out of the water. 

They left right after that, because the little girl had her tennis lesson. I dragged some blankets out of the back of my van and tried to create a make-shift camp to live in until the security guards found me eating Chex mix out of a frisbee and made me go home.