A Trip to Great Yarmouth

We went to the seaside last weekend in Great Yarmouth.  If you're all about the boardwalk, ice cream and machines to waste your money in, this is the place for you!  I preferred the beach north of all the excitement and lights, which was beautifully laid with huge expanses of dune grass and not at all crowded.

It's not the first time Aiden has seen the sea.  He has dipped his baby toes in 3 oceans/seas including the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and, now, the North Sea.  However, he's actually old enough now to appreciate sand without eating it - though perhaps not without throwing it - but that's progress at least.  We made sand castles for the first time and Aiden was very excited to smash mine every time I made one.  The cold water lapping the shore was a little intimidating to Aiden and he liked to hold both my and Don's hands as the waves came in.  I have to say the water temperature was quite bracing, so it definitely wouldn't have been fun for him to get wet.  Probably Aiden's favorite part about the beach was the rocks.  He found lots of pebbles and rocks of varying sizes and got really excited to find the biggest ones.  "Beeeg Wok!" he would exclaim.  He collected some and took them down to the water to throw them in.

My favorite moment came as I was just overturning the sand bucket to make a castle and Don said, hey, there's a dog in the water!  I saw a large black head and looked up the beach, but no dog owner was around.  Perhaps, not my most shining Marine Biologist moment.  It was a seal.  And it was very close to shore - within 15 feet of the surf.  It watched us and then dove below.  We were very excited and jumped up to watch for another surfacing.  Within a minute, one seal surfaced further away from shore and another further down the beach.  It seemed as though we were the only ones to witness their visit and it was very special and unexpected.