Bedtime with Mrs.
Honeybee.
Today,
In the Honeybee neighborhood,
We'll be visiting the beach.
Have you seen my surfboard,
My dear?
I've got to wax it before we head out for the day.
Yes,
Mr.
Honeybee.
It's leaning against the front door.
Buzz,
Buzz,
Buzz.
It's beach day,
The best day of the week.
I'm excited too,
Melody Bee.
Wait,
Mrs.
Honeybee,
Did you already wax my surfboard?
After today,
That might not be your surfboard anymore,
Dear.
What?
Did you finally sign up for surfing lessons?
I did.
I'll be taking surfing lessons down at the beach,
With my personal lifeguard,
Of course.
Lifeguard Melody Bee reporting for duty.
This is going to be so fun.
All you have to do is close your eyes,
Get cozy,
And listen to the sound of my voice.
Mrs.
Honeybee will be your guide.
Let's begin.
You are here,
Walking the last few steps up our driveway toward Mr.
Honeybee's garage.
When you get here,
You expect the garage door to be wide open as we pack the car,
And you were surprised when it wasn't.
You lightly press your ear against the garage to see if you can hear us in there.
Since you can hear our muffled voices,
You knock on the metal garage door to get our attention.
You stand back to let the garage open,
But decide to limbo as low as you can to go under it before it opens all the way.
As always,
Harold is the first to run out to greet you with slobbery kisses.
All of the car doors are open,
So Mr.
Honeybee,
Melody Bee,
And I can squeeze in as much of our beach day stuff as possible.
Mr.
Honeybee is trying to cram a boogie board with a longer-than-usual leash attached to it into the back of the car,
Between an ice chest and an umbrella.
Holding Harold in your arms,
You circle around the car to see all that we are bringing to get a sense of how much fun the beach day ahead of us will be.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose,
And quiet yourself inside and out.
It's as if you can hear the ocean waves already.
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth,
And walk around to the back of the car to give Mr.
Honeybee a much-needed hand.
Harold tries to help,
Too,
But this is a job that's too big for paws.
Can you grab that side of the umbrella,
My little Honeybee?
I think we need to pull it out just a little,
Then I can squeeze the boogie boards in underneath.
Oh,
Let me help,
Too.
Melody Bee flutters above you to help grab hold of the umbrella stand.
She seems to be lifting it all on her own,
So you let go of it a little to help Mr.
Honeybee wiggle the boogie board alongside another one in a neat stack.
Once you get it situated,
You look back to see that Melody Bee has lost control of the umbrella and is fluttering backwards against her will.
Whoa!
An opportune gust of wind blows by,
Just as Melody Bee accidentally clicks the button to open the beach umbrella,
Which is much too heavy for her to hold.
The wind carries both the opened umbrella and Melody Bee,
Who is still clinging to the umbrella pole,
Off into the sky.
I hear the commotion and come running out to the garage with armfuls of towels.
We all drop everything and run toward Melody Bee and the runaway umbrella,
Which are blowing down the driveway and out into the neighborhood.
Ah!
Umbrella!
Honey,
We can drive to the beach.
We don't have to fly.
Ah!
Should I let go?
Mr.
Honeybee and I run and grab for Melody Bee's feet,
But she slips out of our grasp.
You run out ahead of us and leap into the air just high enough to catch Melody Bee and stop the umbrella's flight.
The wind is still blowing and it takes all three of us to get the opened up umbrella back down.
Phew!
Thank you,
Everyone.
This umbrella could probably fly us all to the beach.
Don't give it any ideas now,
Melody Bee.
Let's close it up and try driving there instead.
We pack the rest of the car full of beach day fun and head off to the coast,
Waiting on the edge of our seats for the first glimpse of the glittering ocean waves.
From the back seat window,
Wedged between boogie boards,
Piles of towels,
Harold's floppy ears,
And Melody Bee who has fallen asleep on your shoulder,
You look out the car window to see an endless horizon of crystal blue water.
Mr.
Honeybee makes one last turn and before you know it,
We've arrived at the beach for our beach day.
We're here!
What a perfect day to spend at the beach.
What do you want to do first,
My little Honeybee?
Maybe some surfing?
Are you really going to surf,
My dear?
Of course I am.
I waxed and brought my surfboard after all.
I'll race you to the shore.
Carrying as much as she can hold,
Melody Bee bravely buzzes toward the water.
Her excitement helps her forget that just minutes ago she was swept up by the wind.
With the umbrella,
A bag of sand toys in your hand,
And your towels over your shoulder,
You take off running through the sand after Melody Bee.
Harold trails you at your heels,
Happily chasing both of you until his paws touch the water.
It gets more and more difficult to run through the sand,
But your enthusiasm and excitement carry you through.
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot.
You,
Harold,
And Melody Bee are lined up at the shore with the tips of your toes just barely touching the waterline.
Looking out over the vast ocean,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel your chest and your spirits lift,
Warmed by the bright sunshine and the feeling of pure joy in the air.
Then,
Slowly,
Breathe all the way out through your mouth,
As a little wave crashes onto the shore and over the tops of your bare feet.
It feels cool and refreshing.
Little goosebumps line your arms and legs as you adjust to the coolness.
Once you do,
You wait for the latest wave to crash and gently pull you out into the calm waters.
You let your whole body be soft and squishy,
As if the bright sunshine has melted you,
And you float in the gentle,
Rolling waves.
That's where Harold and I meet you,
Paddling on our bellies on Mr.
Honey Bee's surfboard.
Why,
Hello there,
My little Honey Bee.
Would you like a surfboard,
Too?
Harold and I have been practicing,
But we have a lifeguard that helps us with the wobbles.
Did someone say lifeguard?
Do you need me to rescue you?
No,
Melody Bee.
I think we're doing just fine so far,
But we will need help really soon.
We're going to catch the next wave.
Here comes one now.
You quickly slide onto the surfboard and steady yourself for the next wave.
It's coming in fast,
And it's going to be a big one.
Together,
We swim out far enough to catch it in time and with enough momentum.
We line ourselves up side by side with enough room for us each to catch a part of the wave.
Harold takes his position at the front of the surfboard to help balance.
Our personal lifeguard,
Melody Bee,
Flutters overhead with her sunscreen and her whistle to make sure we are A-OK.
Just as it's about to break and curl over to crash in on itself,
We swim as fast as we can.
We catch the wave and stand ourselves up inside of it.
The gigantic wave curls over our heads,
But we surf through it with our hands out to the side,
Reaching for Melody Bee just in case.
You catch a quick glance of Mr.
Honeybee at the shore,
Waving you on and cheering for us.
We successfully ride onto the shore and hop off the surfboards and into the soft sand.
We did it!
We surfed our first wave!
Oh my goodness,
You should have seen yourselves in action!
Professional surfers over here!
And I got it all on film.
This will be a fun video to re-watch.
I had no idea you two could surf so well.
And you,
Harold,
How did you learn to surf?
Your surfboard leash is still attached to your ankle as you step out of the water,
Glistening in the sunshine.
Harold is beside himself with excitement and chases the waves as they roll in and out.
One of his paws catches on your surfboard leash and all three of you are swept back out into the ocean,
Laughing the whole time.
Harold doggy paddles valiantly until,
Straddling your surfboard for stability,
You scoop him up from the water and float on the waves that gently rock back and forth.
When you float back onto shore,
You are careful to unstrap your ankle from your surfboard and together we carry our boards up the small hill of the shore while Melody Bee flutters overhead,
Ready and waiting to wrap you in a fluffy towel.
As we walk back,
We can see the top of Mr.
Honeybee's hat,
Just over the little cliff of sand.
He is focused on his work,
But we cannot quite see what he's working on.
From up above,
Melody Bee sees it first.
Mr.
Honeybee,
Did you just build that?
I sure did.
We climb the last little bit of sand with Harold to see that Mr.
Honeybee has built what looks like a sand palace.
It's big enough for you to go in,
Melody Bee.
Take a look inside.
Whoa,
I can't believe all of this.
It doesn't even look like sand.
It looks like an actual castle.
How did you build stairs that lead up to the turret tower?
Oh,
It's nothing.
A little plastic shovel and some salt water can't hobble together.
Do you like it,
My dear?
Like it?
I love it.
It does look like a real castle.
Look at the detail on the stones.
It looks like it's built of stone.
Mr.
Honeybee continues working on his palace with your help.
You happily dig your hands into the soft sand to scoop up a big enough pile to make a drawbridge for the moat which is slowly forming as the waves approach.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
Feel the sunshine on your skin as your chest fills with fresh ocean air.
Then,
Slowly breathe all the way out through your mouth.
You combine sand with enough salt water to create a bridge that somehow holds over the moat.
Melody Bee floats along the bridge once you've built it for her and up into the highest tower.
Princess Melody Bee in her tower.
Wow,
This is so cool.
I think I should have a tower at home.
Being a princess in a tower,
I don't know.
It just feels natural,
You know?
Oh,
Oh no!
From high up in the tallest sandcastle tower,
Princess Melody Bee looks out over the ocean.
Her eyes widen in a way that you can't immediately read.
When you look back at the shoreline to see what she's looking at,
You see a gigantic wave forming.
In the blink of an eye,
The even bigger than expected wave crashes on the shore,
Rushes up the embankment,
And floods even the highest tower of the sandcastle.
Melody Bee is once again swept away.
Not by the wind,
But by the water,
Which has made her wings so heavy she cannot flutter herself out of this one.
Melody Bee,
Oh no!
We're coming for you,
Melody Bee.
Melody Bee can't help but giggle as she gives in to the wave and simply floats.
When another wave comes,
It launches her back up to the shore and into our arms,
Finally able to catch her.
She flutters her wings in the bright sunshine to help them dry and struggles to get all the salt water out of her nose.
I think I need that leash more than the surfboard.
One day,
I politely request a tether,
Please.
Out of an abundance of caution,
Melody Bee walks up to the umbrella,
Which has been anchored to a stake in the sand,
And tethers herself to it.
She insists she will flutter no more today and instead relaxes in her tiny lounge chair,
Letting the sun finish drying her wings.
We spend the rest of the day enjoying the waves,
The sun,
And the sand until nighttime when we have a bonfire.
Sitting around the bonfire,
We dare each other to dip our toes into the nighttime ocean,
But we're too busy laughing,
Telling stories and jokes,
And making s'mores for such a dare.
This bonfire and the sounds of the waves are all we need for a perfect end to a perfect beach day.
Always remember,
Mrs.
Honey Bee believes in you.
You are special and you are loved.
I can't wait to see you again.
