Sandcastles, Beach Diamonds, and Bones!

This is our sand castle.  So much less sophisticated than we'd envisioned.  And it took us a super long time!  But there are five seaweed flags (we tied seaweed around sticks we found), a shell drawbridge over the moat up to the door, and a swimming pool on the top floor.  Fancy!

Every day we gather up and walk up onto the boardwalk for lunch the nearest clean bathroom.  It's worth the $20-30 every day.  Seriously.  And a big fat slice of cheese pizza is only $2.50!  We must eat a lot.

My sweet girl.

These boys stayed out long after the lifeguards went home.  They just love the sand.  They were building/digging a pit this day.

This baby LOVES the sand!!  He digs, rolls around, pushes it..throws it in the air and his hair..loves it all.  Doesn't complain either.  It's really sticky sand..like it's HARD to get off.  Just water doesn't wash it off.  He still has it in his ears and hair after a bath!

Caroline has had a great time playing with Carter, she's so patient!  He says, "Bulldozer!" and pushes sand around with his hands and whole body!

Will's been really good with him too!  He's so gentle.  And Carter laughs so hard when he does something funny.

So..after we went to the bathroom Tuesday, we went into the shops on the way back to the beach.  We found this cute sign, but there's only one..which boy to give it to?  hahaha!

The girls chose matching rhinestone anchor earrings while we were shopping!

That night we played Headbanz..the kids are hilarious!  And the game goes soooo much better if Eric doesn't tell us what we are!! : )

My baby was EXHAUSTED.  He either doesn't get a nap, or it's a very short one.  He sleeps WELL at night!  Obviously the flash didn't even wake him up. : )

The boys kept yelling for me to come see the crab they had trapped under their big bucket!  When I got over there, I was freaking out about where Ethan was.  They said he'd gone back to swim.  In the Ocean.  Alone.  Before I could run to find him, they uncovered his head and laughed like hyenas!  It's a good thing, I was near freakout.

The sand is hot without your shoes on.  So Carter runs on the shady sand!

Waiting for movie night to start.  The boys are all watching a train app on Clay's ipad.  So cute and cuddly!

On Sunset Beach at Cape May!  They are looking at Delaware in the very far distance.  (You can kinda see it the the right of the left viewer.)

So..this is a concrete ship.  That sunk.  Imagine that!

Information on the SS Atlantus.  Proof that yes, they did indeed think a concrete ship could be a great idea.

Boys out on the rocks.  On the edge of the Cape.

My sorting buddy.  We sat to find the prettiest Beach Diamonds.  (Clear stones, most likely tiny bits of quartz or glass that have been beaten on the shore and rounded and smoothed.)  She kinda likes the pink and rosy bits of quartz.

Our sorting field.  Reminds me of beans!

Ches is keeping an eye on Carter..he got down IN the big rocks a couple times!  Like up to his head.

There's a pretty rose quartz!

We visited the Cape May lighthouse, and this is the only way to see them and the lighthouse at the same time!

The boys chose to buy fossilized whale teeth for their souvenirs! : )

Whale Jaw Bone that washed up on shore.  There's a live frog living inside!

Most of the cousins there!  Minus Carter, Christopher, and Eric!  But we got to meet Kayla, Erin, and Thomas in person for the first time! : )

These girls looks so much alike to me! : )  Beautiful.

We've got to get back to the beach to have more fun!  And it's already eleven am! : )  Hope you are sorting through your rocks to find tiny diamonds too.  Hugs!

How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God.  How vast is the sum of them!  I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.  Psalm 139:17-18