The time change is just around the corner, but even still the days are quickly getting shorter. Considering the horrendous winter/spring that we endured, I promised myself that we would take advantage of every nice day that we could, so we jumped on the opportunity to make it to the beach (again, I know) while the weather was pushing the high 80’s today.

The kids enjoyed the long walk down the path to the beach and spent a good deal of time playing in the sand once we got there. I love watching my kids on the beach, especially when they don’t have toys with them. It gives their minds the opportunity to be creative, to make up games, and entertain themselves. They do very well at it, and are often quick to jump into each other’s games. They don’t need much encouragement from me, I just keep an eye that they don’t go too far into the water (especially Baby E) or run too far down the beach and out of my line of sight.

We stayed much longer than we intended, and by the time we were ready to leave the beach was deserted and dusk was setting in. While there had been ample leftover light at the beach, the walk back to the car was on a tree covered path, which had very quickly turned dark. The kids were nervous as we walked our way back to the car, but we told silly stories and I encouraged them to be brave.

Yesterday I became an aunt for the 17th time. Wow, what a blessing it is to be a part of such a large, close knit family. I’m looking forward to meeting my new niece soon, but in the meantime we got to spend a little time with her big brother this evening before bed. 🙂