...for a trip to the beach! we're a few hours from lake erie, one of the "great lakes," so the beach is similar to the ocean beach, without the fear of sharks. or crabs. or the 12 hour drive!

there is nothing like a vacation around the water with the sand. i don't know what it is, but me and this "getting old" thing is making me long for many more hot days. i'm afraid i'll be looking up retirement villages (Del Boca Vista phase II, anyone?)  in a few years for our "golden years" (remember...i do day-dream of this time in our lives) and i'm not about to wish autumn upon us anytime soon by waxing nostalgic about the cooler breezes we're heading into. last winter was way too long for me, and i'm sucking the marrow out of every summer day. i'm already planning our week-long vacation to the beach next year. (and everything is washed already so that if it's hot again tomorrow, we'll head to our local lake beach!)

the boys loved the sand the most. adam felt as though the lake needed more of it so he spent his time picking it up and throwing it into the water. sawyer loved the first day of "mini-waves" but was fearful of the windy second beach day. so we spent that day at the tip of the peninsula, where the water is stinky calm. rowan could care less where we were as long as there was water for him to play in (although for the record, he loved the big waves!).

we drove home much later than we had expected, smelling of sunshine and suncreen, in a car full of sand and damp, dirty clothes. but more importantly, tired, happy boys with a full two days' worth of pure fun behind them.

digging was really the best part:

the sunset from the west side of the peninsula. this was my favorite part of the trip...letting the boys wade in the shallow bits and play in the sand...adam couldn't stay dry or clean for very long:

these next three black and whites will probably go in their memory book, or hung in their room:





i love this picture. it looks like a religious moment, when really he's standing there flinging sand into the lake all the while yelling "ahhhhh ahhhhh!"
hmmm...perhaps it was his religious moment. :)

back to life...and to the sewing machine!