The Beach... only better

With school starting this week, Brian gearing up for a TDY away from us this month (that will keep him gone for about 6-8 weeks), and the summer at an all time HOTness level... we fit in some family beach time, complete with the famous Gulf Coast white sand and warm waters + we also rented a small kayak to have fun with Thomas. We headed out early this morning (before 8am) and head down to the Soundside Rec area for some beachtime. The nice thing about using the Hurlburt Field (AFB) Sounside Rec area is it is well kept, practically new, you can rent all kinds of outdoor water equipment/boats and it is NEVER crowded. The best part though is there are no waves or steep drops into the water so the kids are much more comfortable here then they are at the Gulf beach. Granted, the water is slightly less Caribbean blue, but it really is better since we have small kids. Here is our morning at the beach...

Abbers is loving the texture (and the taste, unfortunately) of the pearl white sand.

Thomas using his net to try and catch the millions of little fishes he saw. See how flat and calm the water is? Perfect for little munchkins running around.

Daddy already on the kayak cruising the waters. I'm sure he was wishing it was set up like a fishing kayak where he could catch some dinner for us. Oh lord, I probably should not have even said this (in writing) because he may just go out and buy one and then I'd be eating these words.

Daddy & his mini-me

Abby really started to get comfortable both on land & in the water standing and trying to walk all about. I'm not so sure she loved the taste of salt water... but I'm sure it had to be better than the sand she was eating.

My busy bee

Of course Thomas brought along his fishing rod...

He was amazed at all the fishing swimming around. I didn't get a picture, but Thomas was out in the deeper part of the water a lot of the time where it was up to his waist and even chest and he was completely comfortable. Matter of fact, at one point when he was on the kayak with me, he was ready to head back to shore and I said we should "fall" off the boat and swim back in. He was all about that "good idea", as he calls it. He was kicking and moving his arms so he could swim while I pulled the boat behind me to shore. Just maybe, if I play my cards right, next summer when he is 4, we will be on our way to really knowing how to swim.

Beach Baby #1
Enjoying her snack and juice box in the shade.

Beach baby #2