simple pleasures

We spent the whole day at the beach today. I mean 8 hours straight! We totally missed lunch unless you count the grapes, pretzels and cookies we snacked on. As you can see the kids are getting darker and darker (and "Yes, Mom" I did cover them with SPF 50 sunscreen! ha ha) Can you believe how high Christopher is jumping in that top picture? I was taking some cute shots of them looking at the water when he leaped up! The bottom picture is of the sand cake that they made me. They happily played all day together with only their imagination and a few sand toys. I LOVE homeschooling on days like this!

first day at the beach

We decided to home school our 3 children this year. To take advantage of this schedule, we are spending the month at the beach. I figure why not "do school" at the beach when rates and crowds are low! (I am going for the learning opportunity not because I love the beach- obviously) So, yesterday we loaded up - I mean we really loaded down the car with everything for one adult, 3 kids, and a dog for a month! And today we went for a walk and played at the beach. It is a little cool for me but the kids didn't seem to notice. I have already collected lots of shells. Anyone have any craft ideas for shells? The two older kids buried themselves in the sand! Our first day has been fun and relaxing - I mean- filled with educational experiments!

Not all who wander are lost.
_jrr Tolkien