Our first full day on the beach was awesome!  We didn’t build this sand castle, but it gave us inspiration for the rest of the week.  We learned how to “decorate” the towers with sand art from the creator of this castle, which kept the girls busy for hours! 

 

Rose.  Loved seeing her more reserved and actually a little intimidated by something (the waves).  She surprises me every day.

 

Noelle was eating it up!  She wanted these sunglasses so badly for our trip that she paid for them with her own money.  Now I see why she wanted them so much.  She’s a fashionista!

Anna Kate is super tactile.  It was so cool to see how she was processing our surroundings with her sense of touch.  Love this kid!

 

 

Look at her go!

So yeah, about this little half-umbrella… we met some friends at the beach, so we were planning on sharing their huge family tent for the week, which is what we did the rest of the days, but today was their wedding day, so they ended up not coming to the beach.  We thought we could wing it for just one day, but the heat/sun was so incredibly intense.  We found this umbrella left by someone who probably just didn’t want to cart it to the trash, but it was all the shade we needed for Rose.  She only left this spot a couple of times; She absolutely loved her little fort!

Working together

 

The extent of my boogie boarding, ha!

 

She’s got determination!

Noelle wrote this is the sand for Mike and me.  She’s precious!

 

Rose finally faced her fears, and let the waves move in on her legs.  She is so fearless about some things, and precautious about others!  The ocean is the latter.  Her hand position is like, “Okay, I got this!” as she’s beginning to relax.  I know her so well.

When Noelle was swimming a good distance out with Mike, some guys said to her, “You sure are a brave little girl!”  This made her day!  She is so proud in this picture, and I was happy to capture the moment.

 

 

The sand was amazing, but you have to just roll with it being absolutely everywhere and sticking to your sunscreen!

 

Well, yes it is!