I always tell myself that a six-hour round trip is a loooong way to go to spend one day at the beach. However, when it comes down to the only option I always manage to talk myself into it...and it is worth it...until the loooong drive home hits. That's a bit tough.
But we went - and we had a GREAT time!!! So what follows are lots and lots of photos and recaps of our day at the beach.
To begin...the beach was no longer "flooded", but it did have some lingering effects from the hurricane. There was a TON of seaweed. It was heaped in piles along the high tide line. There was not much clear beach to play on. However we kept driving away from the few families that were braving the seaweed and we found a pretty clear spot. I had also learned from past experiences to always bring a shovel to the beach. We made a path through the seaweed to the water edge...had a clearing to set up our shade shelter and blanket...what more could we ask for? (And by-the-way, I have been there where there was much more seaweed on the beach that you had to walk through to get to the water - heaped into piles by trucks, smelly, and infested with biting insects...at least this stuff was still clean!) There was a bunch of seaweed in the water too but we got used to it.
One REALLY positive effect was the waves were the biggest I'd ever seen down there - they were awesome!
I thought I'd start by introducing most of the players...
Some photos of kids digging in the sand...they did this for hours.
Playing in the surf. Most of the photos of kids in the surf will be of the younger set -the older kids spent most of their time waaaay out in the good waves.
We had a pretty good set up - a nice clear spot in the middle of some seaweed. This was our first trip with our shade shelter - it was awesome! Our last one was a royal pain to set up. This one was quick and painless - well worth the investment. I always get lots of shots of people WAAAAY out in the surf. Most don't turn out and you can't ever tell who is in them....but this is where they spend most of their time and I like to capture that.
Now the younger kids found a new place to play...at the shower by the port-a-potty. The beach was only a few yards away yet they found this a very attractive place to spend a good portion of the day. They would shower constantly, then let the water run to create rivers and pools in the sand. We did have to limit them a bit...water conservation and all. Maybe they liked it so much because they could control it themselves.
We hung out and relaxed and had a wonderful day!!! The girls did some beach combing (lower left photo) and found some neat shells. Usually all we find are tiny muscles but they found a few large shells, some partial spirals, tons of sand dollar fragments, and other misc. shells. Not too bad for Mustang Island. I like the photo of Allen and Nathanael hanging out and chatting. I also love Simon's body language in the photo where I am applying sunscreen (top). I found it was easier to bribe the children in order to reapply...like giving them yogurt or a cookie after the application. Simon still looks like I am poisoning him or something. However, no real sunburns - so it was worth it.
Photos of the kids building in the sand.
I love how Simon was such a good big brother to Amelia. He played with her and helped her in the water. So nice. I also like the middle photo...Simon and Nathan would wiggle their feet ankle deep in the wet sand until they couldn't move. Then they would try to jump out. They usually lost their balance and landed on their rears...with their feet still firmly stuck. (It looks like they are pretending to punch at each other...but Nathan is just swinging his arms to avoid falling.) Madalynn and Katrina had a great time together (top right). And of course there is the photo of my bright sunshine girl - smiling away.
Let the digging begin! They had quite a network of sand villages going. Forget a single castle...they had an entire metropolis built. Complete with castles, factories, businesses, residential housing and huts for the laborers and poor - all protected by a series of trenches and walls to keep out the waves.
And of course no sand fun is complete without digging random deep holes and drip castles.
Baby Lilly was the most loved baby on the beach. She was so content. She would scoot around on her blanket and didn't mind the sand. Although I don't think she liked the water much.
Oh yes...one more "must do" on the beach...burying cousins.
Christina always takes such beautiful landscape shots. It's a good thing since I never do. This is one of hers right before we started packing up.
I love photos of Allen playing with the kids. This collage is for him. Although I'm not sure how dragging Katrina along the beach is "playing" - Maybe he's helping her finish her body surf??? I'll have to ask the story behind that one. The bottom photos show everyone ringing a big soft pit - kind of like quicksand. They would stand on the rim and step in. They would instantly sink deep into soft, mushy sand. I tried it - it was a little creepy. I wondered what had created such a sink hole...a sea animal that we were going to disturb...or a leftover pit that a previous family had dug pre-hurricane when the tide was lower. Either way, it was unnerving to me - but the kids thought it was pretty cool.
This is my "beach buddies" collage. Liz, Lauren and Abagail collected a large amount of shells. (I think Lauren was out digging during this photo.) Nathan laid his head on Nathanael's shoulder and I think he actually fell asleep. They laid him down and he took a nice, long nap. I like how Oliver is helping Amelia get her life jacket on in one of the bottom photos - such a nice helper.
While Simon, Oliver and I were out walking on a sandbar I suddenly noticed a flash of movement and color by our feet. I looked closer and saw a group of sting ray gliding around. They didn't seem interested in being stepped on. There were about 5-6 in the group. We were over by the sink hole area and called the kids to come see. Simon and Oliver got nervous and ran, screaming, out of the area - further scaring the sting ray. By the time the kids came over we couldn't find them. Later the older kids caught sight of them again. Then one came too close to the beach and got stuck after the waves receded. Gabriel managed to catch it and Christina snapped a couple of photos. Then Gabriel helped it get back into the water. Swimming with sting rays was our new adventure for this trip. Every time we go there is always something new to experience.
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