Playing in the Sand
We took several days off to take our boys to Cape Cod—it has become something of a family tradition to stay at the beach each summer, either here or on the North Sea in Germany.
We stayed in Orleans, at the elbow of the Cape, with beaches on both the Atlantic and the Bay. Thus situated, children may experience two different seaside environments. Nauset Beach, on the Atlantic, is somewhat more wild: at high tide, the waves crashed fiercely against the shore, proving too strong for our five-year-old, but just right for our eldest and me to try bodysurfing; there are seals to be seen playing off shore. Skaket, on the Bay, is much more like the German beaches: at low tide, the water greatly recedes, leaving long, flat stretches of sand to walk and explore. The boys loved to play in the tidal pools, building castles for the hermit crabs they caught, and taking in all the other sealife that abounds there.
This year we also brought along the Holz-Hoerz Sand Marble Run, which we had given one son for his June birthday. Our best track wove around a mountain of sand, including tunnels and a bridge, and ended in an overturned bucket to stop the marbles. It takes some experimenting and engineering, of course, to make a good, fast run, but by combining two favorite childhood occupations (playing in the sand and playing with gravity), this “kugelbahn” offers hours of seaside, sandbox, or backyard enjoyment.