crowded beach day

Like everyone else who lives near an ocean (it seemed...), our family headed to the beach last Saturday. Chris dropped us off, then drove around for at least a half hour before he found a parking spot. But it was worth it. Not too hot, not too cold, perfect kind of beach weather.

 Here's Chris modeling his new, manly, not-a-girl swim shirt.

 

 A giant tractor rolled right past Josh and Ashley. I'm not sure why it was there, but we assumed it was to pack down the sand. They had the beach open for paid parking, and everyone was getting stuck in the sand. It reminded me of snowy roads in Utah. Luckily it was much less cold than snowy roads in Utah.

 Ashley was so excited to go boogie boarding. Until a wave knocked her under. She wouldn't talk about it (Which is what she's doing in the above picture -- not talking about it...), but later said she always thinks she's going to love the beach, then something bad always happens.

But she even though she wouldn't go back in the water, she was totally happy building a sand castle/raging river on the beach.

 

 Ethan used our old boogie board snow sled out in the ocean. It still works like a boogie board, but it's kind of funny watching him carry a sled around on the beach. He loved hanging out in the waves until he got smashed under a big one. Then he sat on the sand making a mountain. He said when it dried it would become a rock. Not sure where he's getting his science information, but it made him happy anyway.

Josh is such a funny guy. I always see him peering at me in the rear view mirror. He blows me kisses and waves and holds up "I love you" hand signs. Love that little boy.

Chris surprised us all by stopping in one of the podunk little towns to get ice cream.

Driving through podunk little towns is always an adventure. We also saw a small carnival on the edge of a river, and Josh was really disappointed we didn't stop and let him ride the ferris wheel because he's apparently never been on one before.

Then we saw a diner with a sign that said something like, "chicken gibblets, crawdads, Jesus loves you, catfish fingers." I love the Jesus Loves You thrown in for good measure.

Sometimes life in The Swamp just makes me smile. We passed another hand-painted sign that welcomed us to some podunk little town, and underneath that, it said, "Where God is still God, and Sin is still Sin." If someone stuck that sign out in the west, I'm pretty sure someone would be sued. Gotta love the south :)