Beach Finale

Popsicles at the beach because Melissa is the best!

Jon & I even snuck in a romantic walk on the beach (with Elijah):

Elijah woke up even EARLIER than normal one morning.

Like "it's still totally dark outside" early:

This time we tried sitting on the front porch to watch the cars.

Instead we discovered the existence of 'no-see-ums', which bit me all over.

In the mornings I would go for a walk/run along the beach.

I found lots of cool shells, a baby jellyfish (which I tossed back in), and this:

At first I thought it was a helmet that had washed up, but no. 

Giant horseshoe crab.

Melissa ended up hauling it back to our section of the beach for the kids to investigate.

I'm pretty sure it ended up in Timmy's village somewhere.

Speaking of Timmy's village:

It appears civilization has advanced tremendously. 

They have a full on temple now!

When your baby wakes up stupid early, you take naps on the beach.

When you fall asleep at the beach, Emma will be there to document it:

Melissa snapped this picture of me & Elijah in the low tide one morning.

Low tide was the BEST.

All my kids (besides Aaron, who HATED it) have liked the beach as toddlers. But not like Elijah. He LOVED the beach. He loved the sand. The water. The waves. The birds. And he had NO FEAR. It was terrifying. Jon and I would have to take turns on "suicide watch," aka "keeping Elijah from drowning." He would run straight toward the waves, screaming with joy. Jon called him a fat, slow, sandpiper (which was his other favorite part of the beach). Coming home to a baby pool on the back porch is going to be quite a disappointment.

Screaming with joy in the waves, even when they knocked him over.

Catherine acquired a massive collection of sand crabs.

Aunt Ashley has taught her well.

Aaron & Elliot playing in the sand together:

I have been wanting to get these two together for a LONG time. Not sure if it's the Blood genes or just a fluke, but these two are SO much alike. The day Elliot filled up a paper with math symbols was the day I knew they would be the best of buddies. 

I think Elise was the second-biggest beach lover.

I barely interacted with her all week--she was always off playing:

Proof that we were there with some Johnsons (although Aaron joked that there were technically still more Bloods than Johnsons, despite us crashing THEIR reunion):

I believe Seth was nursing a jellyfish sting in this picture.

They got several of us the last few days.

Next time we will keep vinegar on hand!

Cute beach lady!

Catherine divided her time either spent alone, hunting shells or crabs, or playing with Paul:

They really do have a great time together!

Yes, that is Gabe.

Most people opt to not be buried face down, but...Gabe is not most people.

This was the first year Seth has really spent much time out in the water.

Having Gabe there was a big influence:

Even Elise mastered the boogie board!

Not a sunburn--that is Elijah's tan line.

He is clearly not my son.

Also, redheads should not be able to tan like that.

Creating sand drizzle castles:

Aaron was the master of this.

He spent much time perfecting his technique

(and defending his creations from Elijah).

Elijah liked to sit on sand castles.

Case in point:

The coolest thing happened while we were there. Not sure how we missed it all the other years, but there are sea turtle nests all over the beach! One was right by Aaron & Ashley's house, and one night the babies hatched, or "boiled." We missed all the fun, but Aaron & Ashley saw some babies and Ashley's sister helped guide one to the water using her flashlight. So cool! There were tiny tracks all over the beach from where they had crawled. We waited at the nest the next night hoping more would hatch, but no luck. In the morning we saw one set of tracks, but couldn't tell if the baby actually made it to the water. 

Apparently baby sea turtle tracks look sort of like faint bike tire tracks.

And then, sadly, it was time for the drive home:

This may have been my most favorite beach year ever. House sharing with the Knoxes was awesome! The kids all did great together and I loved getting to split the cooking with Melissa. Plus being right across the street from the beach? It was just about perfect.