Bailey Beach Week Part 3

When I checked my weather app on Monday night there were little thunderstorm icons for everyday of the upcoming week. Luckily for us, the weather forecast was wrong (shocker.) and we enjoyed several perfect beach days. Thursday was one such day. 

First things first, we made a shark in the sand. Brady started out helping me but soon lost interest. My mom stuck with me until the end and we were pleased with the end result. With two 2 year olds around I knew it wouldn't last very long so as soon as we finished we snapped a couple pictures and let them have at it. What took us twenty or so minutes to make was destroyed in a matter of seconds. :) It's a good thing they're so cute!

We took a trip to the dollar store on Wednesday and Brady picked out a glow in the dark sword. It ended up being the coveted toy of the week by brothers and cousins alike. Brady brought it down to the beach with us on Thursday and spent a long time burying it a la Sword in the Stone. He would pull it out and then get right back to work burying it again. Talk about cheap entertainment! I'd pay a dollar for that any day.

The ocean is so beautiful. I just love it. Here is a picture of my view. Zach and Chris playing paddle ball while little James watches on. And I can't forget Brady in that cute little sun hat- Life is good.

Eventually, Lindsey and I ventured into the ocean to jump the waves. They were breaking pretty far out so we had to break through the surf which was a lot of work in and of itself. Once we got far enough out to jump with the swell of the ocean we were probably 20 or 30 yards out. We couldn't touch when the waves were passing but as soon as the water went down we could touch the ground... until we couldn't! We must have drifted out to where the sandbar drops off or something because all of a sudden we were just treading water 100% of the time all while the waves kept coming. Outwardly, we both remained calm but inside we were both freaking out! We were far enough out that no one could hear us if we yelled and I kept wondering what it would take for someone to know we were in distress. There were life guards on duty and Zach and Rick were boogie boarding further into shore. My mom was sitting under the umbrella and everyone was going along like nothing was happening- meanwhile, our lives were flashing before our eyes. It felt like we were being pulled down the beach away from our stuff and our people. Panic was setting in. I quickly discovered that if I tried to fight the current I would quickly expend all my energy- so our mo was to just relax and hope the current would drag us back to shore. We tried our best to let the waves just take us in and eventually we made it back to where our feet could touch and then the rest of the way into shore. We may or may not have reenacted the final scene of the movie Gravity when we finally got there. This was us. But for reals.

It was all very dramatic. But we were alive. And we vowed to never go into the ocean again. It was kind of funny because no one else knew what we had just been through and when I tried to tell Zach about it he said, "Yep. Pretty much sounds like every time anyone goes into the ocean." I wanted to smack him over his 6 foot 2 inch head. Tall people just don't understand!

Annnway... after recovering from our unpleasant experience we decided to keep it close to shore and dig for mole crabs. They look like this:

and we caught like a million of them.

Mole crab hunting crew.

James got brave and actually went into the water with some help from Chris. It was a big deal.

We quickly realized after buying Ryan and Brady goggles that we had made a mistake in not getting Camden a pair. We ended up picking him some up at the Dollar Store and to this day he requests them every time he changes into his bathing suit. Another dollar well spent.

With the rain still holding off, we decided to check out the sand dunes on Thursday night. The dunes are another thing that we have been doing for years and it has become something we look forward to doing every year. We time it so we can be there to watch the sunset from the top of the dunes. This year's sunset did not disappoint.

pre-sunset

My mom aka the packhorse. We love her.

Lindsey worked so hard taking pictures of everyone and everything all week. She is an excellent photographer and is so generous with her talent. Last time we went to the beach she made an amazing slideshow of all her pictures that we still enjoy watching to this day. This year she is super busy documenting her trip to Aruba and trying to move so I'm not sure she'll have time to make a slideshow- but I hope she eventually does! (hint. hint Linds) It was so fun to watch the last one over and over again throughout the two years between beach trips. It was the perfect memento. 

When I saw Brady and my dad deep in conversation (as deep as you can be with a 4 year old) watching the sunset my heart just about melted. How cute is this little scene? 

And then there's these little goofs.

And now a little shout out to these two little love birds: the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary couple in the universe! June 3rd was their 35th wedding anniversary and we celebrated with a luau dinner party- decorated for and prepared by... my mom. I'm telling you, she's a keeper that one.

And we'll end this post just as any great blog post should end: with an adorable picture of my sweet little Brady.