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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2551 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 9, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I'm traveling to the beach tomorrow. Gonna be there with my family, meaning my wife and kids, plus my parents, plus my siblings, plus their kids, plus a few aunts/uncles cousins.

Any thoughts on something fun and different to try?

Get some boogie boards and teach your kids to surf with them. Much safer and easier than surfboards but still a blast. I loved them when I was a kid.

If you've got the right sort of sand, you can make a Sagrada Familia sandcastle. My daughter enjoyed this when she was about 4 or 5. Otherwise just crack a beer and let 'em run around, they make their own fun at that age.

We're doing the same right now, for ten days straight. How old are your kids?

4 and 2

If you're in an area that has them, I bet the 4 year old will be fascinated by sand crabs. You can find them by looking for little holes/air bubbles as the water at the shore recedes. Dig 'em up, and let 'em go back to burrowing.

Might be a bit young for catching scuttling crabs proper on the beach at night, though, although that's very memorable.

Are you planning to dig foxholes in the sand, like any self-respecting Kraut?

Sadly no, my little one doesn't yet have the patience for industrial warfare. We intended to visit some WW2 landing beaches and bunkers, but I think the wife changed her mind (no big deal, I've been there.)

Sadly no, my little one doesn't yet have the patience for industrial warfare.

Soon...

Definitely take them when they're a bit older. My dad took me to Normandy when I was 8 or 9, and decades later those are still some of my most vivid memories. Extremely cool and interesting.

Moderate-scale sand engineering.

For me-as-a-small-child, this meant digging a pit until I hit the water table. Later, it evolved to wanting elaborate waterworks and embankments. Of course, that required a lot more effort, and competed with the traditional pastime of beach drinking. So I was more likely to compromise and excavate something smaller with my cousins.

No idea, is what I’m saying.

Good idea, I also did that as a small child, and I've mostly forgotten how fun it was at the time. I should help my kids build something really huge. I can probably build a castle as tall as my youngest child.

I do remember a lot of frustration the one or two times some randos came along and stomped our castle.

I always enjoyed making a fort at low tide, and then seeing how long it coild survive against the inevitable encroachment of the ocean. Fun times.

With small kids, you can also always throw them into the waves (get them to launch off your hands as you hurl for extra force!) Or simply walk out deeper against the waves, holding hands in a chain. I always found thay fun, at least.

This was always my favorite thing to do. I somehow found a way to turn every situation into an opportunity to "play Alamo" as I called it. Even as a little kid, there was something intrinsically fascinating and romantic about doomed last stands.

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