Best Beach Day

On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend we went to the beach. It was awesome.  We did errands and putted around the house in the morning and then we went to the beach in the afternoon. There was no rush, no hurry to make it there before the beach filled up or before traffic began.  We just went. It took us 40 minutes and we pulled into Hampton Beach state park (south of the strip) and the parking lot was actually less than half full at 3pm!  It was great. Beautiful weather.    Cole had been complaining beforehand that no friends were coming us and I realized that this summer we have been so used to being with other people (which has been a great thing, don't get me wrong) that we have had little time to just be a family.  I cherished this day.  And we had friends over the next day so all was good. :)

When we got there it was high tide. Cole took it upon himself to build a sand castle that would stand the test of the waves.  We all chipped in and it ended up being strong enough and Cole was just so pleased.  

 Brendan and the kids got Slushies for a treat.  I didn't get one but remembered how much I loved them as a kid!  

 The water was freezing! Maybe because of the hurricane the week before or just because it was now September.  In any case, none of us ventured past our knees.  Charlotte loved jumping over the little waves. That's all our feet could stand. :)

 We walked over to the jetty on the south side of the beach.  It doesn't have that much for tidal pools but enough that the kids enjoy it. And of course climbing on the rocks is always fun.  The waves were HUGE though and were slamming down on the rocks like crazy.  There was no going out on the jetty while the tide was still going out. It was so beautiful with the sun setting and the waves crashing. 

I set up Cole to look surprised when the wave came up.  Charlotte wouldn't go near it. :)

 And a wave got Brendan unexpectedly. 

 I don't know why she is touching her bum.  Silly girl.

 We brought a  picnic dinner and really I couldn't have been happier. Every one was a in a good mood and it was such a great time.  After dinner the kids wandered and found that someone had marked an "X" in the sand. They got all excited, but after several minutes of intense digging they realized there wasn't a treasure. They didn't mind though and Cole just filled it back up and reapplied the "X" for the next  treasure seeker.

Faces covered in jelly and fluff. Love these kids!!