To The Beach

It was Ryan's special day today, and he chose to go to the beach. Abby has been wanting to go to the beach for months now, so she was very excited. On our way we stopped at the Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery. Abby loved throwing the food into the tanks and watching the huge trout come to the surface with their mouths wide open.

But of course the main event was the beach itself. It was a very cool 61 degrees when we arrived, and the wind was blowing slightly. Abby didn't seem to notice the temperature though. She just dug right in to the sand. She helped Daddy and Ryan build a big sand castle as well as dig the moat. After a couple of hours the wind picked up even more and she said she was cold. So I put her jacket on and back she went to digging and playing.

We kept the kids out of the water for most of the time, but as the water threatened our castle, we let them go splash in it. Abby fell several times and ended up soaking wet. She was shivering and her teeth were chattering, but every time I asked if she was ready to leave, she said, "NO!" But finally the sea took our castle, and we packed up to leave.

We went to dinner at our favorite local seafood chain, Doogers. They have fantastic clam chowder and pretty good fish and chips. Abby was starving and dug right into her salad. She loved the chowder too! After dinner we took the kids for a ride on the carousel and bumper cars. Abby loved both. The last time we tried her on the bumper cars, she was too scared to enjoy it, but this time she laughed her fool head off. She thought it was the funniest thing to crash into other cars or be crashed into.

We ended the day by doing a little shopping and walking and eating an Elephant Ear for dessert. Abby fell asleep about two minutes after we headed home, and she slept the whole way. She didn't even wake up as we got her out of the car and put her to bed (I'm glad we dressed her in her jammies!), which is a little unusual for her. She was one tired little girl.