With perfectly grey skies, Faith, Adlai and I decided to venture to the south coast for a few days. Adlai had never been further from his place of birth than London and I was excited on his behalf. With an epic adventure such as this, I knew that my first fatherly challenge was to pack the car with what seemed like almost all our possessions. As it turns out all those years of playing Tetris paid off as my car took on a tardis-like quality.
The journey passed without incident and “we” (Adlai) arrived at our destination in the same nappy we left home in. At the first available opportunity and with a (very) brief glimpse of blue in the sky, we all bundled onto the beach. Adlai didn’t seem terribly impressed if I’m being honest. He frowned at the sea and appeared rather put out by the brightness of the sun and the briskness of the wind, which was causing snot to come out of his nose at an uncontrollable rate.
I tried to lift my son’s enthusiasm for the beach by finding the most spherical pebble I could (we’ve all done it), but I guess pebbles aren’t his thing. He was starting to fall asleep and Faith was reminding me (not for the first time) how much better the beaches are in North Carolina. I admitted defeat and we left to try and figure out a way of cleaning the snot (which was now kinda crusty) off our son’s face.
Faith celebrated her birthday whilst we were away. Adlai is proving to be ever so good with cards and presented his to my wife with his usual charm. He used the moment to demonstrate his latest party trick of making a series of “ohh” noises. It’s incredible how into it we all get. It feels a bit like we’re having a conversation: we smile and nod at him as if we understand. Of course we don’t understand, but I don’t think he minds and we certainly don’t.
