We took the dogs to the beach last Saturday. I’ve been wanting to do this for over a month but we had something EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. so we were just never able to make it work out. Finally last weekend we got up early and got it done. It’s silly that we don’t go to the beach more since we have an entire coast line 40 minutes away from home but 1) I really fucking hate sand between my toes and 2) Once your kids are old enough to have a social life that doesn’t concern you it just seems to happen less. But we have DOGS! And dogs love the beach so I want to start going at least once a month till it gets too cold to throw a ball into the water for Kumo over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.
I was thinking on a quite stretch on the way home about all the random people you see on the beach at 8:00AM. The beach we take the dogs to, Rio Del Mar, is really popular for dog owners because when you leave the parking lot there is a sign which identifies the official end of the state park thus allowing all the off leash fun to be had for the dogs. So it’s mostly dog owners out there that early. A few joggers and then a few random old people. But mostly dog owners. Oh, and also a yoga class.
So in my head I categorized all the people and I thought, you know, this is something I should put on my blog as an excuse to show you how cute my dogs are while playing on the beach.
1) Dog owners who want their dogs to play. These are my favorites and as annoying as they are, I think that Ben and I fall into this category. We give Kumo and Danica the opportunity to meet all the dogs along the way. Sometimes they just sniff butts and move on (ASIDE: I found a really interesting YouTube video about why dogs sniff butts that you should totally watch because SCIENCE) but if your dogs are like ours, they instantly try to get your dogs to play with them. Especially Danica who thinks other dogs should just exist to chase her down the beach.
2) Dog owners who are all uptight and suck at life. My least favorite kind of dog owner. They think that all dogs except their dogs are stupid and when your dog tries to sniff their dogs butt they look at you as if you have personally violated their butthole with a hot poker and how dare your dog BE A DOG.
3) Old people with no dog that are mean and bitter and how the fuck can you be in a bad mood at the beach. There were two of these. One glared at Kumo even though Kumo never even looked in his general direction. I blame this on stupid pitbull stereotyping even though all Kumo was doing was chasing a ball through the waves looking ADORABLE. The second guy happened to walk by just as Danica crapped out all the ocean water we’d been trying to get her to stop drinking. We’ve REALLY been working on this with her but chick is seriously hooked on the stupid salty water and inevitably ends up crapping it all out in glorious fashion. Unfortunately we had no more poop bags because both dogs had already done the deed and it’s literally just clear ASS WATER that passed through her. So Ben and I shared nervous glaces like, “Are we supposed to just pick up this wet sand that’s two feet from the tide?” Then Mr. Crabby Pants walked by and shoved a poop bag into Ben’s hand because of course this guy with no dog carries poop bags on the beach. So Ben picked up sand and carried it around in a poop bag.
4) Adorable old people with no dogs who get the pure awesomeness of enjoying a beach walk. We came across two adorable old ladies laughing and carrying on as old adorable ladies do. Kumo went over to meet them and licked one of their hands then went off to chase a ball. The old lady that Kumo liked looked at me and said “Well, they’ll NEVER lose you in the dark!” Ben and I both cracked up and agreed because at the time I had on a hot pink tank top, neon orange shorts with neon purple piping and a bright peach hoodie. Like I do. Ben enjoyed relaying this story to Mel and Kim later at breakfast and there was more laughing. I’ve joked about this before because I LIKE COLOR OKAY STOP JUDGING ME but was so funny to hear it so bluntly from a random adorable stranger. That’s all she said. That one sentence. So much truth.
And just because it’s a Friday and I’ve had way too much coffee here is a throwback picture of our first trip to the beach with the dogs in 2010.
