The Beach '14: Hermit Crabs!

In addition to frogs, the beach also had an abundance of hermit crabs. Oh, you have never seen such excited boys when they had their very own hermit crabs! We didn't keep them for long but we acquired several more throughout the week. 

The Beach '14: Sun, Sand and Surf!

Ahhh, white sand beaches and beautiful clear water! And for the Gulf in July, the water was cold!! The marine buoy says the water temperature was between 80 and 85, but I swear it felt more like 70-75! Lake Erie had to have felt warmer. But it was a very refreshing water temperature, not like the bath water in the pool or you usually expect in July in the Gulf. 

The boys had fun playing in the waves and digging holes in the sand. Nick's only mission was to dig holes. 

Wave Ninja 

The Beach '14: Pool Selfies!

Ahhh, reasons why Sarah and I should not have access to an underwater camera...

Swimming with sunglasses. Important to protect your eyes, even under water.

It took us a few tries to figure out how not to blow bubbles as we went under

Sarah's got skillz - she can smile with teeth underwater!

We can open our eyes if we wear goggles! These are the boys kid sized goggles, thus why they took totally ridiculous on our giant heads

Woohoo! I figured out how to smile under water with teeth! Still didn't master the no breathing out underwater, though.

The Beach '14: Fun In The Pool

The house we stayed in had a very nice pool in the backyard. It was perfect. The boys loved swimming in it. And cleaning frogs out of it. Nick preferred the pool over the ocean a lot. 

The Beach '14: The Frogs - Lots and Lots of Frogs

One thing that was not lacking on vacation - frogs! There were thousands of these tiny frogs everywhere! Once the sun went down, the frogs came out. The pool was a popular spot to find them in the morning, including in the filter. The boys had a fun game every morning of cleaning the frogs out of the pool. 

The Beach '14: Shelling By Flashlight

When the sun goes down, but you are not ready to leave the beach, you break out the flashlights (thanks to grandma). The boys had fun looking for shells by flashlight.

The Beach '14: Checking Out The Sand and Surf

After finally arrive, after dodging some serious traffic, the boys wanted to immediately check the beach to make sure it met their approval. We rode our bikes over to the beach (actually Aunt Sarah ended up having to ride Nick's...) to check out the scene. 

With nets in hand and always thinking of safety first (note bike helmets)

We all know it really is best if Nick just kept the helmet on at all waking times.

You know it was a rough, rough winter when Nick thinks white sand is the same as snow and you slide down it. 

You can only image the bath needed after all that butt scooting 

The beach met their approval. And I would like to add that the water was warm that night - warm like you would expect the gulf in early July, almost like bath water. 

The Beach '14: Road Trip!

Friday afternoon, June 27, we hit the road for our beach vacation. I got the boys some legos for the ride, and they were a huge hit! When not playing legos, they watched movies or colored. And if we were lucky, slept a bit! 

Ben Tied A Shoe!

Ben tied a shoe! He's been working on it for a while. It is still a bit of a work in progress, but he's getting there!