relaxing on the beach....

is a thing of the past.

Now it's all about keeping my eyes glued on my boys as I try not to lose them at sea. Or let their delicate skin burn in the hot sun. And trying to prevent them from crawling over broken shells. And swallowing the water. And eating the sand...

This was Graham's first visit to the ocean, and he had no apprehension about splashing in the waves.

In fact, he was absolutely drawn to the water, and we couldn't contain him on the beach blanket for even a minute.

This might have been the only moment he was still, all day.

My boys all love the sand. And they certainly don't get that from me. I was cringing all day at their positively coated with sand little bodies.

They did occasionally rinse themselves off in the waves.

And eventually we hosed them off at the house my aunt was renting for the week and headed to the boardwalk with cousin Angela, for dinner and rides.

When it was time for ice cream, Jonathan was unfortunately po*ped on by a seagull. And just a few minutes later, so were my aunt and cousin. It was all funny enough until Graham was the next target. Poor bubs - isn't that just so wrong? I couldn't pack things up in the car fast enough, after that.

We were all "done" by that point, anyway.