The sand, the sea, and a little green cup

The girls had their last paper of the mid-year exams this morning so in the afternoon we took off for the beach to celebrate the end of exams (certainly not to celebrate their exam results because as far as those are concerned, we should really be in mourning).

Here we are at our usual spot close to Marine Cove with our goodies from the nearby 7-Eleven store - Cheezels and Corntos and some drinks.  I like lugging our stuff to the beach using this plastic laundry basket (which actually does function as the girls' laundry basket when it isn't having a day off at the beach) as the sand washes off easily with just a bit of hosing down.

The girls and I LOVE the beach, even the non-idyllic ones we have in Singapore.  There's something about the sound of waves lapping against the shore and the gentle sea breeze that makes me feel like I'm on vacation.  I glance at my handphone and notice that the network has switched from Starhub to INDOSAT so now I could even imagine I'm on holiday on some Indonesian island!

The girls were having fun along the seashore as the tide came in and then tragedy struck!  An innocent little green cup, one of a set of cups of different colours that nest inside one another, got mercilessly dragged out to sea by the tide.  This set of cups has been with us for years; I believe it was one of Tai Pi's toys from her infanthood.

The green cup bobbed up and down, all the while crying out for help  - "Save me!  Save me!" (cup's voice courtesy of yours truly to add to the melodrama).  The girls could only watch helplessly as it drifted further and further away from shore.

The unsuspecting green cup in happier times 

(bottom right corner of above picture) 

The girls watching helplessly as the green cup floated away

To bring some closure, Tai Pi created an obituary on the sand - "Green Bucket R.I.P."

When I put Sai Pi to bed, she said to me that the best part of the day was building the sand faces (see below) and the not so good part was "the green cup got washed away by the sea.  I feel very sad because we will never ever see it again."  Well, you never know; maybe someday we just might come across a little green cup washed ashore on the beach, waiting to be reunited with its family and the three little girls who loved it so.

Sand face by Sai Pi.  

Happy childhood memories are made of these.