H11

Ethan tried out a little bit of gum chewing today! It went pretty well for about 4 minutes and then he asked me where his gum went. Pretty sure it's in his belly :/ 

He sure enjoyed it while it lasted! And was quite proud :)

Today we tried a new beach. It's only 10 minutes north of town instead of our favorite 50 minute drive. <<however, the 50 minute drive actually allows for Jared and I to get some 'down time' in while everyone is buckled up and not in danger of getting lost. 

Here is how excited Ruthie was about the awesome waves at today's new beach: 

(This is an ecstatic expression of joy- not of disappointment)

Colton does a lot of this sideways jumping dance... Trying to get the water out of his ears. The waves were churning Colton and Ruthie's little bodies around in every direction! It is no wonder he had water stuck in his ears!!

This is (obviously) a panoramic photo of the new beach. As you can see, the sand is nice and the water entry is gently sloped! It's not a very large space though and was pretty crowded. We have discovered the technique though for keeping our bubble clear of other people who might move into our space a little too closely-- we call it the Yard Sale. Once we arrive at our beach spot and set up the umbrellas, our belongings just magically begin to scatter... Flip flops, sand buckets, shovels, boogie boards, paper cups, beach towels... Until we have a 25 foot radius spread in each direction!! So far we have probably claimed more space per person than anyone we have ever encountered. I kind of like it. 

As we made our departure, we were quite the scene apparently. Lots of people stopped to stare. This vacation has delivered us a LOT of staring. Sometimes people even just stop right in front of us as they pass by and stare. Mostly smiling Stares. But we are talking like 10 seconds, 20 seconds and even longer!!! I reverted this picture to color so you could tell that Jared led the parade with Ruthie. Behind me, you can see Colton bringing the green bucket and to the slight right and behind Colton is Ethan dragging a boogie board.