Back to the Ocean

We have decided that after school starts is a great time to go to the ocean!! Don't get me wrong, there were still people around here and there but not nearly as many as there are during the "summer" busyness!! It was great! We enjoyed the day with our friends the Thornes and their generous hospitality! Here are a few pics of the beautiful lighthouse at Ft. Williams State Park.

I caught this one just as a tugboat was pushing a large ship past! It was a neat sight for all of us!!

The boys enjoyed playing military games at the old forts, I convinced James to stop for a quick pic before heading back to "war".
Mollie and Chandler were so cute in the stroller together!
After walking around the park and exploring the old forts we made our way to the playground.
Emmy and Eliza were making some sort of something to eat???

Mollie and Chandler wanted to hang from the monkey bars over and over! I caught Mollie just as her arms gave way!

Chandlers turn!

Here's the gang on the slide with the ocean in the back! It was so cool to play at a playground with an ocean view!!

Later we headed off to a small beach down the road to explore the tide pools! Mrs. Thorne was great at finding sea creatures!! What do you suppose is under this rock...

...two little crabs!

It was a chilly evening but that didn't stop everyone from striping their socks and shoes to feel the cool sand on their toes.

James actually decided to wear his sandals into the tide pools so that none of those cute little crabs could pinch his toes!

This pic was captured as the sun was setting and was hitting the kids just right so that they glowed just a little!

This tide pool was full of fun creatures! Mostly hermit crabs!! They were everywhere and the kids had a blast catching them all and moving them into a little pool until the big "race"! Yup, you guessed it, the hermits had to race before being released back to their peaceful home!!!

The sunset was beautiful! It was around 7pm or so, such a peaceful and quiet time to be at the beach!

Emmy found a nice little orange rock that she really wanted me snap a photo of.

The boy's were also eagerly looking for sea glass... none found though!

Eliza made a fun discovery that when you lift a piece of seaweed from the sand it leaves a "tree" shape in the sand! It was so neat, she tried it several times forming more and more "sand trees"!

We are so thankful for a wonderful day with our friends and a chance to enjoy Gods beautiful creation! We are hoping to go back again very soon!!