Beach Day

Last Saturday we decided to head down to Galveston. We had forgotten how long it takes to drive down there. And luckily we didn't have any traffic! We miss the quick 30-minute drive to the beach we had in Holland. But we don't miss the freezing cold water... The girls were so excited to be able to play in warm water - pretty much like bath water. Unfortunately about 5 minutes into playing in the water Rachel was stung by a jelly fish. She was standing next to me and all of sudden just started screaming and holding her leg. At first I thought she was stung by a jelly fish, but then we couldn't find anything on her leg. Then we figured maybe the salt water was just bothering her eczema. It took Rachel about 30 minutes or so to get back into the water. Once we were heading home, our suspicions were confirmed. Rachel definitely was stung by a jelly fish. It's pretty common in Galveston, but still no fun. Anyhow, on to our beach day.

Audrey and I spent a lot of time in the water while Andy tried to coax Rachel back into the water:

First mouthful of saltwater - not a huge fan!

Want some (a spoonful of sand)? Rachel getting somewhat closer to the water and building a sandcastle:

I don't know what finally got her back in, but here she is trying to catch fish with her daddy. Of course they never caught any fish - they were just too fast! But they did catch some crabs and a jelly fish (which was rightfully buried alive).

The girls had so much fun making pancakes, meatballs, and apples with their daddy. A few sandcastles were built. Rachel was quite impressed with a man on the beach who was sculpting a turtle out of the sand. It was impressive! I went with Rachel to check it out and I told him how Rachel wanted her daddy to make her one, but he wasn't as talented. Well, as we were walking away Rachel whispered to me, "Can he be my daddy?". Too funny! The girls also enjoyed jumping over and racing the waves. Here's Rachel racing a wave and I'm pretty sure she won:

Racing the waves:

The last 20 minutes we were there Andy decided to take his shirt off. And he figured he'd be safe for only 20 minutes. Wrong... His shoulders and back are a nice bright pink! The girls and I have been working on our tans all summer, but Andy hasn't had that luxury. These girls sure do love their daddy:

And just in case you haven't gotten enough of Audrey's cheesy smile, here's another one:

We are definitely going to go to the beach more often. The girls had a blast (despite the first 5 minutes) and it's such an easy, cheap thing to do! We went early enough that we were able to park right along the seawall and have easy access to the beach. If we are going to make a habit of going to the beach, we do need to purchase some beach chairs and a better umbrella. I figure hopefully I can catch some sales this fall and we'll be set for next summer. And hey, we can probably still go and enjoy the beach here through October, if not longer... :)