Da Beach

We just got back from an exceptionally fun-filled weekend at the beach, thanks to my wonderful Father who rented a beach house in Delaware so his children could have this experience together before Amanda leaves for her mission. It has always been important to him that we have these kinds of experiences, and it is thanks to that that I have been able to travel to Europe and Hawaii, among other places.


The owners of the house left some things we could use at the beach, including some beach toys. Everett loved these and spent all his time digging, collecting rocks, and smashing sandcastles.

Oh! A new bucket!

Wait a second, there's some stuff in here! What can I find?

OOOHH! a DINOSAUR! And a SHOVEL!

Pretty soon everyone went to work to build the best castle.

Everett decided that the "best castle" is a castle that is meant to be demolished. And boy did he go after every mound of sand he could find.

Then he decided to be constructive and help us cover Maddy with sand.




Hmmm. Something seems to be taking shape here...Something rather fishy...





Oh yes. What is it? A giant man-eating...goldfish? How scary.




How scary, indeed. Just look at the expression on that poor girl's face.



Oh, and here are the masterminds. The morbid masterminds.


It was quite a windy day so Ashley sat in her car seat wearing a strange conglomeration of clothing--a long-sleeved nightgown, yellow pants, and a cute little sundress that had no semblance of matching her pink spandex speedo hat.



All in all, everyone had a great time. I even got to take a moonlit walk on the beach with Joel, complete with the opportunity to practice our yelling. The wind was blowing so hard that we had to express ourselves at a louder volume than normal. Still, we got to go together and that is what counts, right?



It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip, and it was a great way to bid farewell to the summer.


.....wait a second. How did that get in here?

And who is that posterboy on our beach?

OH! Is that...Mack? Fifteen-year-old Mack?
Wow. No wonder all the girls like him.
And gee, he doesn't even work out, folks.



And in case any of you have heard about seeing the "DC Mormon Temple" from the freeway in Maryland, this is what it looks like from inside the car:

It isn't the best picture because I didn't take it when you can see the most of the building, but you get the general idea. It is a beautiful Temple, inside and out.