Boomerang Beach

Today, we are in-between holidays. Only yesterday, we arrived from a week-long stay in the Belgian Ardennes, and tomorrow we'll be on our way for a week at our trailer in Groningen. Pausing at home in Scheveningen, to do some laundry and pack new suitcases for our second week of vacation, we take the opportunity to have breakfast at the beach with the entire family. 

Had it been up to Billie Stormzy, he would have preferred to stay at home. He can spend hours in a corner in our living room, next to our stereo system, putting on cds, listening to songs, and quietly singing along. But the promise of going to the sea is enticing, too. Walking along the beach, we settle for Boomerang Beach. I climb the stairs to the beach club's higher situated terrace, but my partner indicates it's nicer for the kids if we sit at one of the places in front of the terrace, as the kids can play in the sand there. As I return to the rest of the family, a waiter says we should walk on a little, since there is a place in the shade a little bit further. 

It's good that he tells us this, as we hadn't noticed that. Indeed, there is one table at the end with one couch in the shade, on which my partner, Billie Stormzy and me sit down. My daugher, instead, opts for the other couch, in the sun. She tells us she likes it like this, even though the sun is quite strong and it is rather hot right now. We pick our order: fries and chicken nuggets for the kids, and flammkuchen for us. This German version of a pizza is a standout option unique for this beach club, as far as I know, that sets it apart from the others. I've always liked flammkuchen, and in fact prefer it to pizza in its thinness and ingredients. I pick a flammkuchen with sour cream, emmertaler cheese, leek and bacon, while my partner opts for a vegetarian version with tomato sauce, mozzerella and rucola. We take a latte macchiato each, while the kids go for apple juice (Billie Stormzy) and lemonade (his sister). 

Then, I find myself alone while my partner and the kids are off to the sea. I sip my coffee while I wait for the food to arrive. It is not too busy right now: there are people, but not as many as on the really busy days, despite the weather being good and the holiday season having started. On the soundsystem, disco songs are playing. Food arrives, and I stand up to see if I can see the others, waving when I spot them in the distance. However, after a few minutes, only my daughter arrives. She tells me she doesn't know where her mother and Billie Stormzy are - they were walking here together, but then suddenly disappeared. 

After a while, my partner and Billie Stormzy make it back to the table. Apparently, he got distracted by a large, shallow puddle of sea water that remains a but further from the sea itself during low tide. Puddles like this are really nice for smaller kids, as it comes without the waves, is not too deep and the water gets a bit warmer too. Service at Boomerang Beach is really good. There's a number of waiters for the entire terrace and people are service minded and friendly. When the kids need more drink, which we encourage given the hot weather, it is brought swiftly. 

The chicken nuggets, my daughter tells me, are good, but the fries are a bit too salty. Billie Stormzy, however, is not interested in the nuggets. He tries a bit of flammkuchen, but then only eats fries. The disco has turned into deep house and suddenly, Billie Stormzy out of nothing says that the song that just played is his favourite song. I think that with favourite, he just means he really liked it. And indeed, the music is quite good: it fits the warm weather and the lazy Sunday feeling we all share today. 

Together with my partner, Billie Stormzy starts counting in Turkish. He is still obsessed by numbers and counting. He's able to count to 999 in Dutch, and can recognise written numbers up to that as well. There's a number of other languages in which he can count to ten - French, English, Swedish, Arabic - but for one reason or the other, he's really enthusiastic about Turkish, in which he can now count to 100. He now does so loudly together with his mother, and as always when he does so, he also starts to jump up and down and wave his arms around manically. It's a special dance that goes with the counting.

After we've finished our foods and drinks and paid, we go to the sea together. Soon, however, we smell that Billie Stormzy needs a change of nappy, so I return home with him while my partner and daughter remain at the beach. When they return, it will be time to travel to Groningen. 

 Also on Breakfast at the Beach: Jump back in time to when I visited this place with Rihanna Gaga in 2014