Ocean Shores

 Our friends recommended that we visit Ocean Shores, and we decided that today was as good a day as any!

 It was decided that a fort/ submarine/ ship/ tent needed to be constructed, posthaste.

 Our superhero was in attendance, of course.

 Periscopes were installed.  Campfires were created.  Bows and arrows were secured.  This was one multi-purpose creation.

 The perfect dress for the beach.  Can you guess what is in her pockets?  Feathers, crab claws, rocks and a whole lot of sand.  This girl loves to collect things.

 Not to be outdone, the little taco got in on the building project.

 A few smiles here and there mean that he's starting to feel better.  (I hope!)

 Even this silly dog got some fun in the sun and the sand.

Driftwood, aplenty.

 Yum.  Who wants a sand sandwich?

I do!

 F loves to put things together.  The leash goes with the dog.  The socks go with the feet.  The hat goes on the head.  What a smartie.

The excavation crew was brought in for some of the necessary tunneling.

Super N.

New materials were obtained for a second story.  Meanwhile, the masonry crew began working on mortaring the cracks.

Ready for take off?

Anchors away, crew!

Abandon ship!

Checking through the periscope for giant squid. We're quite fond of giant squid lore these days.  N is convinced that he's going to be the first oceanographer to catch one alive!

Sandcastle builder extraordinaire.

Off on another reconnaissance mission to scout out more materials.

Faceplant + sand + runny nose = ick.

An influx of supplies for the building endeavor.

Just putting the third story on this boat.  And adding the Lido deck.

Holy smokes.  Even the dog started fetching driftwood for the cause.

I hope this guy has a building permit before doing this...

Just double-checking Papa's workmanship here.  Not too shabby.

Sand on our faces and in our shoes.  Bliss for these two girls.

Dirty beach feathers.  What treasure for my little scavenger.

What could be more fun?

Starting to get crabby.

Yep.  Definitely crabby.

On the lookout for danger.

Stick a feather in my cap and call it macaroni.  Feather, courtesy of S, of course.

Two happy parents.  One tired baby.  Cross your fingers that he'll sleep in the car, or we'll have two unhappy parents soon enough.

Look at us with no babies around.  15 years together and still smiling.  Most days, at least.

Sayonara, Ocean Shores.

Time to head back to the car.

After din-din we drove out to a different spot.  Turns out you can take the car right on the sand!  I thought the purple-people-eater looked stunning on the beach!

How about some kite-flying to end the evening?