Biggest sandbox ever

Our week at the beach could not have been more perfect. The kids were more than a little excited to have a giant sandbox at their disposal all day, every day, for an entire week. They built drip castles, drove trucks, constructed roads and tunnels, and ran until they ran out of energy. And when they tired of the sand, there was that great big ocean full of waves and sea shells and more water than they'd ever seen before.

Caleb was positively giddy with the comings and goings of the waves. He'd stand at the water line and chase the foamy edges of the waves up onto the shore and back in the ocean for what seemed like forever. And once he worked up the nerve to go in up to his waist, there was no going back. He'd stand there staring out into the deep blue sea yelling, "Whoa! Wa-wer!" and bracing whenever a wave would crash around him. His weight and girth worked to his advantage, and only once or twice was he knocked back by a wave that proved stronger than him.

Abby was her typical crazy self, plunging into the ocean with gusto and running out until she was up to her armpits in sea water. I can't count how many times I had to yell for her to "Come back! It's too deep," only to have her turn and yell back, "Why is it too deep, Mommy?" She loved riding the waves in on the little blow up boat we bought her, and only got scared when she was pitched into the ocean by a particularly violent wave and had to be plucked out by her feet.

We spent the week with dear friends, and the kids loved having playmates around. We brought home a box full of sea shells, over 1000 pictures and quite a bit of sand in our shoes.

I've already started counting down until next year.