The sea looks different today. There is a wind coming off the water which has made the day cooler and it's pushing waves up to the rocks where they have their food baskets and towels placed. She is playing with an umbrella, delighting at discovering its fumbling aerodynamics, and he has to remind her that it's not a toy, although he doesn't really want to.

At the age of eight he can tell that this for her - even in the fun of it - is still an early science experiment. Looking at her, imagining with an accurate assumption that she wishes the brolly would lift her off the ground and send her on a Mary-Poppins tour of the beach.