fun in the sun

Is there anything better than a little time at the beach?  We just returned from vacation, and the sun and waves and water were as glorious as ever.  In fact, the ocean was the same.  Still salty, still majestic.  But the Shafer family vacation was quite different.

In the past, our routine has gone something like this: lounge in the sun all day, drag ourselves in around 5:00 for a shower, go out to some delicious restaurant for dinner.  This year, the days were more like this:  get up before God is awake, relax in the room while the babies take their morning nap, trek down with armloads of gear to spend just over an hour having fun on the beach, head back to the room for lunch and nap time, get in some last minute play on the sand before dinner and bedtime...then mommy and daddy make bottles, clean nipples, etc., just like at home.  Yes, this year vacation was a bit less glamorous--no real reason for cute dresses and make-up--but it was without a doubt our best vacation yet.

Barnes & Frances LOVED the ocean.  From the minute she could hear the waves, Frances never stopped chatting (except, of course, to eat sand).  She loved splashing in the waves as they crashed against her tiny legs, and she especially enjoyed dancing while her feet sank deeper in the sand.  Barnes, as always, was fearless.  He crawled straight toward the ocean over and over again, even catching a few waves right in the face.  I've never seen him more pleased with himself or more excited to explore.

Taking children to the beach is work.  Between the multiple sunscreen applications, the tents, and the tears over a bucket to the head, you can start to wonder if it's really worth the trouble.  But it is.  Oh, my friends, it is.

first time in the surf...and sand went straight to the mouths

 

explorer barnes

so excited to be covering his sweet swimsuit in sand

playing together in the tide pool

splashing

happy frances