The time of successful distraction and physical removal are quickly coming to a close.
Yesterday, Franklin and I spent a couple of hours at the beach. We had a blast but I now realize that getting Franklin to not go into the water, eat sand, run with sharp sticks, or pet strange dogs will get harder and harder as time goes by.

Each time Franklin would run toward the water's edge I would hold him back and say,

No No Franklin, It's veeerrrrry cold*
Bbbrrrrr!
... and wet
Wet!
Yuk
Cold!
Look Franklin a ...tree/dog/sand castle/blue sky...
(This is my version of toddler talk.)

I think I may have had to say this about 60 times (no exaggeration here). He understood not to go in the water but it was as if he didn't have the ability to resist.
In the end, he would run up the edge and say,

"Cooall, Wet, Yuckky, No"

Still though, today was the same. Unfortunately, he reeealy wanted to climb a large rock in the park that even I would be scared to attempt. There was very little room for discussion and although he eventually lost what simple form of debate we had, it was not a pretty scene.

He gets over it pretty quickly and doesn't seem to be holding a grudge but sometimes it sucks to be the bad guy.

*(The average ocean temperature is 7-11 degrees Celsius or 44-52 degrees Fahrenheit. So, although we have a bright sun and nice green grass here, a breeze off the ocean can make for a very chilly February.)