Beach Trip

All hail the three day weekend enjoyed by only federal employees and those who work at non-profits with generous holiday schedules. Columbus Day Weekend afforded us the chance to load up the car and travel to the beach. It is almost 3 hours from here, so its not a day trip to sneeze at. But it was most definitely worth it. We told Jilli we were going Saturday evening and she was beside herself. "I will build a sandcastle and the ocean will knock it down and I will put my toes in the water and we will pick up seashells!" (all one sentence, no stops for breathing.) We went with our wonderful wonderful friends (the ones that camped with us!) and we all arrived around 11. The wind was intense. I was worried it would be too much for the girls. But both Jilli and Hazel played and played in the sand. It was cool and gray and the water was raucous but Jilli ventured down a few times with Jeff or I and got her toes (and most everything under her chin) wet. She built sandcastles and picked up sea shells. Josh did an excellent job flying a yellow kite until an errant gale force wind blew it all the way down the beach. We all chuckled a bit seeing the handle bop down the beach....

Rory looked and listened. She loved putting her hands in the sand and raking it all towards her. She got one handful in her mouth before I caught her and was none to happy when I tried to get the sand out. I think the wind did agitate her a bit. She was tired by the time we left the beach and fell asleep quickly in the car.

We got takeout from a restaurant Jeff and I discovered in our pre-kids days and went to the local park where we watched a dog frisbee competition and played on the playground. Rory went in the baby swing for the very first time! She loved it.

We didn't head home until after 3, tired and sandy but with the peaceful feeling of a day well spent.