I have already been out on the beach- before sunrise, but not as early as yesterday. Yesterday it was 4:30-ish, and I tried to be quiet but after starting the pot of coffee I could see Ella’s dark form silhouetted in the hallway, watching me. I waved at her (I could tell she was looking at me, knew it was me, but still adjusting her eyes in the dark-dark of the pre-dawn condo). Moving as quietly as we could we slipped out to the beach.

Absolutely empty-all to ourselves.

We watched the waves, spotted tiny forms scuttling across the sand, watched twinkling stars and likely a planet or two…one was very bright and had a reddish color-could it be Venus (I explained to Ella why I thought it could be and how we could look up night sky info to check if it really might be!).

This morning, Jen made me leave Ella alone-even though Ella asked me to wake her up. I went out alone-a little later this time…5 to 5:30 is, and got rained on…pretty wet. But if I hadn’t had my phone on me, I would have stayed out…got soaked.

Maybe even gone for a swim.

But right now, back inside, another hour and a half older: I am looking at four kids (my three plus a niece) flopped and out cold in the living room. Two on the foldout, one on the floor, and Ella-out from the bedroom and curled up in the cushy bowl-shaped chair. I ran to get a blanket to cover her up because I could tell she wasn’t really serious about being awake.