Riley and Reagan: Gone Beachy!

Our first morning at the beach started out with a bang and a boom and lots o rain. Did I mention early in the morning? Like about 6? BUT at around 7:30am, we were greeted with a double rainbow. Isn't God good?

We stayed at a place away from town. It had it's pros and cons. We were amazed at the little creatures we saw... including a snake, a rabbit, a lizard, and lots of toads ..... in addition to the usual sand crabs, hermit crabs and such. The strangest thing of all is that after we got back I discovered via Facebook that my childhood friend's (Janel K. for those from my hometown!)condo was the condo NEXT DOOR! Talk about small world! They were not there while we were there, but talk about coincidences...

The beach is a safer place due to my jellyfish hunters! Reagan got stung on the foot... not while hunting. She was not a happy camper. She wanted her blankie and her Granny (and the TV and a snack!). Needless to say, she got all 4... plus some Children's Tylenol. She was back on the beach in no time.

Hermit crabs were lots of fun to catch. I even got in on the action. I watched as Riley scooped up a big one and it held tight to another shell. At first we thought the other shell was empty, but it was her baby! So precious. She would climb over baby hermie and protect him whenever we came around.

My little Beach Girl!

The boys worked so hard at digging and shaping their tunnel and hole. It was at least an hour of work.

See the tunnel that lets the water in to fill the hole? They were so proud of their engineering skills.

Just last month, the pier at Gulf State Park opened. It is the longest pier on the Gulf Coast. I highly recommend you visit if you are ever in the area!! We enjoyed it so much that we went back for a second afternoon. You can rent fishing poles and get a fishing license right there (and everything else you need). They have a snack bar and an air conditioned place to eat as well as covered picnic tables.

We met some very helpful and friendly people. A man named Ricky and his brother-in-law (never got his name) helped the kids and mom and me so much. They are locals and just come out to help. Also, we met Carla (Forgive me if I spell your name wrong or your kids names wrong!) and her kids McKayla (4), Caleb (8), and Braxton(?). Reagan and McKayla became fast friends as you will see in the pictures below. My child never meets a stranger. They were there both days we were there. And get this, they live close to us! Just about 10 minutes south! Small world!

I believe this is one of the catches Mr. Ricky let Riley reel in. Like I said, such kind people.

It soon became tradition to pretend like you were kissing your catch!

Tyler and his big catch!

Jenna kept catching these little fellas. She was fishing right next to Tyler and Riley, but I guess the little ones just loved her bait.

Reagan, McKayla (dark pink) and Jordan (light pink) decided that the middle of the pier was a great place for a quick game of leap frog!

Reagan and McKayla pretending to use the dead fish as baseball bats!?

DAY TWO! We only caught two fish that day. Both sucker fish (Remora fish - the ones that latch on to sharks).

Carla's boys showed us how it will attach itself to your arm. Riley was all over that!

Ok, so we got a late start on the ole beach pictures and we all had wet hair. I tried. It is just always hard for me to stop the fun to have them go get ready for a photo shoot. Like I said last year, maybe next year!

I did get this cute mother/daughter one. It may be frame worthy!

We re-dressed in the morning and took some squinty-eyed pictures. By the way the extra kids are Tyler and Jenna (two of my sister's three kids). Allyn and Holly had other plans and couldn't join us. And of course that is Granny, my mom in the stripes! :)